


I: What Was Left Behind (Nothing Ever Happens at Hogwarts)

by SilverAndGreen



Series: Spells of Seven [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Dark Magic, Friendship, Gen, Graduation, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Missing Persons, Mystery, OT7, OT7 Friendship, Quidditch, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Teamwork, Unforgivable Curses (Harry Potter), Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-09 02:57:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 44,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8873005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverAndGreen/pseuds/SilverAndGreen
Summary: Part I: What Was Left Behind (Nothing Ever Happens at Hogwarts)
When people start to go missing at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, seven students individually stick their noses into the mystery - each with their own motives, but eventually all stuck in the same fate.





	1. Final Competition

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd and BTS-lover (I mean, how could you not?). The combination of both resulted in this piece of work, which I very much enjoy writing.
> 
> This is the first part of three (sub-parts I - V) in the series **Spells of Seven** , so prepare yourself for a loooong story (if you're a fan of that). You could read this first part without continuing, but a few questions will remain unanswered.
> 
> I really hope you enjoy. Feedback and comments are greatly appreciated <3!

****

## I: What Was Left Behind (Nothing Ever Happens at Hogwarts)

****

###  **Chapter 1 - Final Competition**

“Five baneberries.”

“….”

“Three spoons of Neem oil.”

“Ugh.”

“And some Alihotsy-“

“Shut the fuck up, Seokjin!”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha!” fake evil laughter sounded from across the table – loud and exaggerated. Namjoon flashed his eyes up from his parchment to the brown-haired Slytherin sitting opposite from him, on the other side of the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. His black and green robes were hanging sloppily off his shoulders, and he was sitting cross legged on the wooden bench, his elbows on the table and chin resting on his hand.

“I can’t believe you’ve already started studying for your N.E.W.Ts. You’re such a nerd,” Jin sighed, a mocking smirk across his face while raising an eyebrow at Namjoon, who had been carefully scribbling old notes over onto a fresh piece of parchment.

“Just following your lead, highness,” the younger retorted, returning to his writing.

Jin snickered. “I imagine you’re starting Potions early because of that Exceeds Expectations you got on your exam last year – on which, if I recall correctly, I got an Outstanding.”

Namjoon sighed and put down his quill, biting on his bottom lip. Jin continued while eyeing his friend with a cheeky smile on his lips. “I may not be a Ravenclaw, but it’s clear I’m the smarter one out of the two of u-“

“The _only_ reason you got an Outstanding,” Namjoon interrupted him, the smile on Jin’s face widening. “Is because you borrowed _my_ notes without letting me know, giving me less time to study.”

Jin shrugged. “What can I say?” he stared at the younger with an eyebrow raised, and the smirk still on his face. “Besides, you know, thanks a lot, Joonie.”

The seventh and final year at Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry had begun for Namjoon and Jin, who were both at the top of their class – together ranking far above anyone else in their entire year. During their six years in the castle, they had competed for the perfect score, both intelligent, clever, and hardworking in their own way. After Namjoon had gotten better scores in their first year, Jin had been determined to prove himself, and had made an impressive comeback in their second and third year. Naturally, this had resulted in a disgruntled Namjoon, who had dedicated most of his free time to studying in the two years after, ranking on top in their fourth and fifth year.

“You know last year’s score doesn’t count, right?” Namjoon told Jin, who winked playfully at him.

“Three-Three.”

“Shut up.”

Jin loved to work on Namjoon’s nerves, knowing things concerning his grades really got to him. He himself did not have anyone at home to prove himself to like his friend in black and blue did – Namjoon’s parents both worked at the Ministry of Magic, and had high expectations of him. The Minister himself had even complimented Namjoon, impressed after hearing about his top-ranking results, him being a Prefect and now also Head Boy of Ravenclaw, which, naturally, Jin had teased him with.

Ultimately, Jin did not care as much about his grades as much as he did about making Namjoon’s life miserable. The young Slytherin loved a challenge, and he loved to win. In their whole year, Namjoon was the only one who he considered equal to him on an intellectual level – he found the rest of the students… simple, but had developed a curious fascination for the Ravenclaw sitting in front of him, and had utmost respect for him.

“Are you done? Everyone’s already left,” Jin sighed, peeking around at the three other House tables, which were abandoned. “I’m bored, and I think I’m starting to get hungry again too.”

Namjoon made a clicking sound with his tongue and cocked his head sideways. “Tough life,” to which Jin pursed his lips. “You didn’t have to sit with me all this time, you know.” 

“And then what would I do? Everyone else is an utter bore.”

The younger looked up at and gifted his friend with a broad smile, his dimples making an appearance. “You know,” he started. “I think I still have some cinnamon pastries in my dormitory.”

“Really?!” Jin cheered, immediately jumping up, pulling his robes straight – ever so excited to eat. “Let’s go!”

Namjoon chuckled while collecting his things from the table, knowing well he would regret not finishing his work when he would lie in bed later that night.

The entire school was gathered at the Quidditch pitch for the first match of the year. Despite the fact that relations had improved over the years, ever since the defeat of the dark wizard Voldemort, every Gryffindor versus Slytherin match brought out the worst in both Houses – both having a reputation for being incredibly hard-headed and competitive.

Namjoon was sat, high up in the Slytherin booth, next to Jin – green and silver paint smeared all over his face, a dark green cloak wrapped around his body, and holding a banner with a large snake on it, which he had enchanted to slither over the cloth and flash its fangs at by-passers.

“At this point I feel like you just do it to embarrass me,” Jin sighed, glancing at the Ravenclaw, who was waving his snake-banner excitedly.

“I won’t deny that. You should have some more House pride, my friend,” Namjoon told him, while making the snake hiss at a pair of giggling first-year girls who passed them.

Jin rolled his eyes while lazily leaning backward in his seat, his hands in his neck and eyes flashing past the students that were securing a spot in the audience. “House pride is so outdated. It categorises people and gives them an excuse to dislike each other solely based on what colours they’re wearing, and I don’t think that’s right.”

He observed Namjoon from head to toe, his brow furrowing. “See, _I_ dislike everyone regardless of what House they’re in.”

The Ravenclaw laughed, knowing Jin was joking. It was his wit and somewhat dark sense of humour that, in fact, made him one of the most popular students in their year. Although it was true the young Slytherin was not particularly drawn to his classmates on a deeper level, he often helped his peers with schoolwork regardless of how he felt about them, and always offered friendly advice to those who came to him for it – Namjoon figured that being the one that people always came to for help flattered and energised Jin.

Thee quarter of an hour into the match, Slytherin was 120 points ahead of Gryffindor, and Jin, despite always solemnly declaring he did not care for Quidditch at all, was cheering loudly with the rest of his House and Namjoon every time the green team scored.

“Okay, so hear this,” Namjoon started, leaning closer to Jin so his words would be heard over the sound of the roaring Slytherin students. “Before the match I spoke to Dahlia about the techniques they _should_ be using against you guys-“

“Wait, you lectured the Gryffindor team captain about Quidditch techniques right before the match?” Jin laughed. “Ha, that’s hilarious!”

“Well laugh all you want, but the thing is, right, – and I’ve told her this before – that Slytherin tends to use the same set of techniques, but in different order. It’s not very creative, and quite easy to figure out if you pay attention to it, really. Naturally, she wouldn’t listen to me-“

“Naturally,” Jin chimed in, amused by his friend’s well-intended efforts being dismissed so rudely.

“-but now they’re losing, aren’t they? So to be completely honest I don’t even mind that they’re being destroyed right now.”

Jin glanced at his friend, somewhat puzzled. “Meaning you never wanted Slytherin to win in the first place?” 

“Well,” Namjoon chuckled. “I never _really_ enjoy a Slytherin winning at anything, do I?”

As expected, it was Slytherin House that came out as the victor of the match, which was celebrated in the dungeon common room – Namjoon being one of the few guests from another House. Jin and him had claimed their usual seats near the fireplace, feeling entitled to them considering they belonged to the oldest group of students in the castle. They were both observing the people around them – who were chanting loudly – when Namjoon overheard a whisper in the seats next to theirs.

“-honestly don’t know where she is. I haven’t seen her in three days, and she never misses a Quidditch match. Do you think I should report it?”

Namjoon subtly glanced over to his side and noticed two girls – a Slytherin and Hufflepuff, about a year younger than himself – leaned in close to each other.

“Of course!” the Hufflepuff exclaimed, most likely louder than she had intended. She caught herself and continued more quietly. “It isn’t like her to miss out on a chance to see Taehyung in action, she’s too obsessed with him. I can’t believe you haven’t told a Professor yet!”

Namjoon frowned, his mind racing.

_A missing student?_

He turned away from the girls, wanting to share what he just heard with Jin, but upon doing so, he noticed a black-haired student descending the stairs of the boys’ 6th-year dormitory. Dressed in a set of silken, pink pyjamas, he dragged his feet over the floor of the common room, pushing some people out of his way, and approached the two other boys at the fireplace – clearly not amused. With a deep sigh he halted in front of them, staring at Jin with sleepy eyes, his expression grim.

“I take it we won, then?”

Jin laughed at the sight of his fellow-Slytherin. “Yeah. It’s a real shame you weren’t there, Yoongi.”

Yoongi rolled his eyes, plumping down on the floor in front of the other two and stared at the both of them with his eyelids hanging heavily. “I had better things to do.” 

“Sleeping?”

“Exactly.”

Much to Yoongi’s dismay, the celebration went on until much later. Around 1AM the room started to clear out, and he, too, took his leave, wishing Jin and Namjoon good night with a grunt – at least, they assumed that is what he meant. They watched him ascend the stairs, almost tripping upward as he did, and the Ravenclaw turned sideways in his dark green armchair, the leather squeaking softly.

“Apparently there’s a girl missing.”

“Yeah, I heard it too.” 

“Of course you did,” Namjoon sighed, thinking to himself he could have known better than to expect anything would get past his friend. “So what’s your take on that?”

A moment passed - Jin’s eyes flashing from side to side and the muscle in his jaw tensing as he was collecting his thoughts.

“Well,” he slowly began, his brown eyes meeting the others’ in an intense gaze. “The last time a student went missing inside of Hogwarts, it was in the time Harry Potter went to school. I recall Voldemort himself was behind it, or at least a shard of his soul.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Namjoon nodded in agreement to Jin’s statement. “So that means-“

“I agree,” Jin abruptly stated, not letting the other finish, his mouth still open in mid-sentence. 

“We descend in to the Chamber of Secrets.” 

The two’s eyes were locked, Jin’s burning with a deep passion – Namjoon’s widened in disbelief.

“What?! No that was-“

“You’re so fucking gullible, Joonie. It’s adorable, really.” the older snorted, bending over the armrest of his chair. “In all seriousness, though, I don’t think it could be the work of another dark wizard. She probably just took a wrong exit; this castle is ridiculous. She’ll turn up eventually.”

Not entirely sure on whether he agreed with his friend, Namjoon led it slide – up until the morning came, the third day after, that a state of emergency was officially declared by the Headmaster at breakfast, which meant all students had to be in bed at a strict curfew, and no one was to wander around on their own anymore - especially outside.

“Are we sure she didn’t just sneak back home?”

“I heard she fell into the lake, and the Giant Squid ate her.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. If anything, she just apparated out of the castle.”

Both Namjoon and Jin rolled their eyes in perfect synchronisation, annoyed at the conversation which was taking place at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. After the Headmaster had announced a student gone missing, hushed whispers – some in shock, some in a strange excitement – had sounded from all four tables, with restless movement on the benches.

“Don’t quit your day job,” Namjoon quipped at the guy who had last spoken, who was sitting two spots away from him, and Jin spat half of his pumpkin juice back into his goblet in laughter, coughing heavily after only barely managing to swallow the rest. The second-year Slytherin stared at Namjoon, affronted, but quickly turned his head upon spotting the shiny Head Boy badge pinned onto his robes.

Jin picked at a rather large sausage with his fork while shoving away the rest of his juice, and Namjoon stared intently at his friend until he, after a full minute, finally returned the gaze.

“What?” Jin mumbled at the other, opening wide and the sausage disappearing in one go. 

“Can we now agree that something grave is going on here?” he told the older before him, who was struggling to chew the amount of meat he shoved into his mouth, his cheeks full and flushed.

“Mhm.”

“I mean, she’s been missing for nearly a week now, yet the Headmaster only decided to officially announce it today. I mean, the Professors must have done everything they could to find her – failing, of course – which ultimately resulted in them believing that we all might be in grave danger. If there’s anything Hogwarts has learned from the time that Potter went to school here, is that hardly anything is ever as it seems.” Namjoon eagerly stared at his friend, hoping he’d agree.

“Mhmmmm,” was the only sound Jin managed to make with his mouth full, his forehead now gleaming with drops of sweat, and wrinkled with a deep frown. It took a few minutes before he was finally able to swallow his food. 

“Honestly,” he panted, gulping away some water. “Nothing exciting ever happens at Hogwarts – the school is way past those times. However, this does seem very odd.”

Namjoon leaned in over the table, shoving away several plates and bowls of food with his elbows as he did. He came so close to Jin that the older pulled his head back.

“Eh-“

“I want to be the one to find her,” the younger confessed, his tone determined and eyes gleaming fiercely. Jin seemed baffled for a swift moment, but started laughing when he saw how serious Namjoon was – passionate like he had never seen him before.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “Solving a mystery? I’ll make you a deal.”

Namjoon pulled back and sat back on the wooden bench with a thud, squinting his eyes and crossing his arms. “Go on.”

“Lately I’ve been thinking just getting good grades is such a bore, do you know what I mean?”

“Not entirely, but proceed.”

“You’re the most intelligent person I know, Joonie – besides myself, obviously.” Jin threw his bangs out of his face with a swift head movement to the side. “But being book-smart is easy. How about…“ he paused dramatically. “We make this our final competition?” 

Namjoon’s eyes were locked with Jin’s – he didn’t speak. The older instead continued. “Whoever finds her first becomes the ultimate champion.”

A smile curved around the Ravenclaw’s lips, satisfied at his friend’s offer – knowing this might just have been exactly what they needed to conclude their last year at Hogwarts, more excited in the moment about competing with his best friend one final time, than actually caring for the safety of their fellow student.

“Alright,” he said. “It’s on.”


	2. Things You Do for Friendship

###  **Chapter 2 - Things You Do for Friendship**

_“Mr. Jung,”_

Professor Zalhammer sharply addressed the Hufflepuff who was sitting on a desk in the front row of the Transfiguration classroom, his back turned to the door. A pair of fluffy, white cat-ears stuck out from under his chocolate-brown hair, which turned upon the sound of his name being called. 

Hoseok instantly jumped off the table and turned to his teacher, bowing respectfully at him.  
“Good morning, Professor!” he chanted to the man, who sat down behind his desk and patted down his long, purple robes to straighten them out. Zalhammer sighed while flicking his wand to summon a stack of notebooks from the other side of the classroom to his desk.

“Ever so boisterous this morning,” the older, grey-haired teacher told the student, who took place in his seat in the front row, all the way on the right next to another Hufflepuff male.

“Thank you, Professor.”

Zalhammer raised his eyebrows and glanced at Hoseok from under his large, round and golden-framed glasses. “That wasn’t necessarily a compliment.”

“I know, Professor,” Hoseok smiled kindly to his teacher as he spoke, his back straightened in his seat, hands above the table, and his tone serious and respectful.

“And put those away, will you?” Zalhammer gestured at the ears on top of Hoseok’s head, to which the student quickly obeyed the command with the swish of his wand, and the entire front row of both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw girls collectively moaned in disappointment, staring at Hoseok who’s own, human ears appeared back on the sides of his head. He chanced a quick glance to the side while Professor Zalhammer rummaged through a drawer, and winked at the girls, who giggled in return.

The boy sat next to Hoseok turned to him and shook his head in disbelief, a smile on his lips. “You’re so fucking annoying,” to which the other male grinned mischievously. 

“Jealous, Zed?” he whispered at his friend provokingly, who rolled his eyes. “As if.”

“Children, enough,” Zalhammer’s voice suddenly boomed through the classroom, to which the students flinched in their seats and the sound of their voices instantly faded. The Professor got up from his desk and faced the class, staring into the room, all eyes on him, letting a moment of pressing silence pass before speaking. “I want to start off by apologising.”

Some of the students frowned, exchanging glances with each other, others merely stared at the man who stood in front of them, tall and skinny – his expression discernibly pained.

“There has been a lot going on in the past two days, and I have not been sleeping well,” the teacher began, and sighed deeply before continuing, everyone baffled at his words. “I’m in a foul mood, and I would not want you to suffer under that unfairly, so I please – please ask you to be on your best behaviour today.”

There was another moment of silence, and Hoseok suddenly noticed that Zalhammer looked even more exhausted than he normally did; the bags under his eyes darker and the wrinkles around them somehow deeper. The Hufflepuff nodded and spoke for the whole class. “Of course, Professor.”

Transfiguration class had passed slowly that day, as well as two consecutive blocks of Divination, and a very uneventful lecture of Defence Against the Dark Arts class in the North Tower – which had previously been all about counter-jinxes. However, Professor Ormiston had seemed exceptionally distracted when the class entered. With her back turned to the class she had started to lecture them about Boggarts, which was third-year material the class had long learned about.

“Eh, Professor?” Zed had interrupted her carefully, to which she had turned around, offended, only then noticing that the class before her was a group of 6th-year Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students.

“Oh dear,” she had whispered to herself, her pink hair wilder and bushier than normally, her cheeks flushing in shame. “Err- please grab your books a-and just read for yourselves please.”

The students had been confused, for the second time that morning exchanging frowns and glances with each other, but obeyed the request nonetheless, reading to themselves in silence for the full one and a half hour – Hoseok unable to concentrate.  
All the Professors they had encountered that day seemed off in some way or shape, like they weren’t they usual selves – they weren’t really _there_. The young Hufflepuff had recalled Zalhammer’s words and mulled over them until the clock had announced the end of their day, and the students had packed their things and left without a word to each other or their teacher, who had seemed to have fallen asleep at her desk.

Hoseok and Zed strolled through the corridor on the first floor, their bags hanging off their shoulders and robes open, Hoseok’s tie pulled loose around his neck. The two passed several groups of students, who were huddled together, chatting and laughing. They seemed to be carefree, and Hoseok wondered if they day had been has strange as his own.

The older Hufflepuff halted in front of a large, wooden door, which he stared at intently. His blond friend stopped in his tracks a moment later, glancing back at Hoseok who seemed to be lost in deep thought.

“I think,” he slowly said. “I’m going to try to find Yoongi.”

Zed heaved the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder. “Oh,” he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. “I was actually kind of hoping I could talk to you about something.”

Hoseok locked eyes with his friend, not entirely noticing the spark of desperation in his eyes as he stood somewhat far away from him. “Right now?” he asked him, strongly hoping it could wait until later.

“Well – yeah, no, I guess it can wait. Listen, Hobi, I know you’ve said the guy’s a genius-”

“Yeah, he is.”

“-but his grades are terrible. He’s only barely passed every year up until now, and that’s only because you keep helping him,” Zed went on without acknowledging his friend’s interruption, determined to get his word in. “Not to mention lately he’s been falling asleep during classes. He seems like a nice enough guy – unapproachable, sure – but nice enough. I guess I just don’t understand what you see in him.”

Hoseok smiled kindly at the other, knowing that his intentions were well-meant. Zed had expressed his concern over his friendship with Min Yoongi before, afraid the Slytherin might be using him. “I know you don’t – but I swear, the guy really is a genius! He’s just…” he paused, trying to find the right words. “Different, I guess.”

Zed sighed, but answered with faint smile, which wasn’t entirely heart-felt. “Alright, Hobi,” he said, slowly turning his back to Hoseok and throwing up a peace sign with his hands while walking away. “See ya later then.”

The young Hufflepuff had found his Slytherin friend at his usual table in the library; all the way in a corner in the back. Like always, piles of books and parchment were stacked on top of each other, with Yoong’s head poking out from somewhere behind them, the boy scribbling into his black and leather notebook. Hoseok noticed that his friend was accompanied by someone else today, who was sat at the far edge of the table next to him, and was staring at Yoongi intently – a young Slytherin boy.

“Yo!” Hoseok cheerfully said, while throwing his hand up in the air as a greeting. Several people immediately shushed him from all sides, to which the Hufflepuff apologetically bowed into every direction. Yoongi looked up at him from his writing and smiled – the smile was genuine, but the boy was obviously tired.

“Oh hey Hobi,” he said, putting his quill down and closing his notebook. Hoseok sat down in an empty chair across from Yoongi and the other Slytherin, casting his gaze on the leather.

“Any luck with that hologram hex?” he asked, genuinely interested in the answer. Yoongi shook his head and buried his face into his hand while he rubbed his eyes.

“Not really. It’s starting to work on my nerves. It’s an intricate process – not as difficult as some other’s I’ve invented – but I haven’t been able to sleep properly in days-“

“Not even during class?” Hoseok asked jokingly.

“Go fuck yourself.”

The two snickered, and Hoseok noticed the unintroduced, younger Slytherin at the table chuckled as well – a little nervously. The Hufflepuff leaned in over the table towards him to observe him from head to toe. He looked quite young – a third- or fourth-year, perhaps. His hair was a light shade of brown, the same as his eyes. Hoseok noticed a freckle on his lip as the boy smiled.

“And who is this?” he asked, already anticipating Yoongi to answer rather than the boy himself.

The older Slytherin glanced to his side. “Oh this,” he grinned maliciously. “This is my new apprentice, Jungkook.”

“Ooooh,” Hobi grinned in the exact same manner as Yoongi – both of them now staring at the boy, who was overcome with discomfort and quickly averted his eyes. “Nice to meet you, Jungkookie.”

Jungkook cast half a smile at the Hufflepuff, only daring to make eye-contact for a split second as he did, to which the older chuckled. Yoongi turned back to Hoseok, the grin still on his face.

“Jungkook doesn’t really have a lot of friends, probably because he’s a brat, so I let him sit with me.”

“H-hey!” the younger stammered, and the two older students laughed.

“I’ve been trying to convince him to let me test my mind control counter-curse, but he won’t allow me to cast the Imperius curse on him.”

“Does the poor boy realise you don’t have any friends yourself?” Hoseok said in jest. Yoongi frowned at him. “Wait, so what are you?”

“Hmm,” Hoseok pretended to think in exaggerated manner, grabbing hold of his chin between his thumb and index finger and squinting his eyes at the black-haired student. “Your secret lover?”

Yoongi rolled his eyes while grinning toothily. “You are ridiculous.”

The three sat in the library for a while, Hoseok asking Jungkook, who turned out to be a third-year student, about his classes, which he seemed to enjoy – his classmates, not so much.

“Basically everyone hates me,” Jungkook told Hoseok, who was listening to him attentively, starting to feel sorry for the young Slytherin. “My grades are really good – I’m at the top of my class. My parents are really proud, but for some reasons the others in my year don’t seem to like me at all.” As Jungkook told the Hufflepuff his story, he felt tears welling up in his eyes and looked away. Hoseok noticed this and reached out to the younger, placing his hand on his arm in comfort, his tone kind as he spoke. “They probably just envy you. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with making friends outside your own year.”

Hoseok glanced at Yoongi, hoping he would support what he told the younger, but the pale, black-haired youngster had already re-opened his notebook and had begun jotting things down on the parchment again, ink dripping sloppily from his quill onto the pages and table. 

“So yeah, Yoongi let’s me sit with him,” Jungkook said finally, sounding sad, to which the older Slytherin looked up, blinking.

“Well, we _are_ friends, aren’t we, Kook?” he asked. The younger smiled, revealing a set of bunny-like teeth. “Yes!” he answered happily, and Yoongi cast a subtle glance at Hoseok, smiling contently.

“So,” Hoseok began after a few minutes of watching Yoongi scribble things down, while he opened several thick books and scrunched his nose while reading from them.  
“Have you guys noticed anything weird today? Some of the Professors seem a little off to me – Zalhammer even told us he hadn’t been sleeping well.”

“Maybe he’s also inventing spells, like Yoongi,” Jungkook grinned.

‘Hmm,” the black-haired Slytherin stopped the movement of his quill for a moment. “Ormiston did seem a little off – Bolb as well, now that you mention it.” He shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t really care.” He turned to the younger next to him. “Also, if you tell anyone about my spells, I will hex you. The only people that know right now are you and the idiot in front of you.”

“O-of course I won’t tell!” Jungkook squeaked, and Yoongi grinned darkly. “Good boy.”

At breakfast, Yoongi was caught by surprise when Hoseok slapped him on the back and yelled in his ear. “I told you!” The Slytherin dropped the croissant he was holding on the floor, and grunted in annoyance. 

“Whoops, sorry,” Hoseok said, picking up the bread and handing it over to Yoongi, who turned to him in disgust. “I’m not gonna eat that.” The Hufflepuff shrugged and threw it back on the floor.

The morning had taken an unexpected turn when the Headmaster had declared a state of emergency within the castle – a Slytherin girl had gone missing. Hardly anyone was focusing on their food, but were discussing the matter with each other. Hoseok eyed the students at the Slytherin House table as he nudged the younger girl next to Yoongi to the side, and took a seat opposite from Jungkook, who was reading a book. 

“I told you something was off,” he told his friend, who had taken his chance to grab a new croissant, holding it at an arm’s length away from the energetic Hufflepuff and taking a bite. “Yes, you’re very perceptive, Hobi.”

“I’ll have you know that Hufflepuffs are particularly good fi-“

“Good finders, yes I think you’ve mentioned it before. A couple of hundred times.” 

Hoseok pursed his lips at Yoongi’s remark, and pulled the boy's arm towards him, taking a huge bite out of the croissant in revenge.

Three days after the horrific announcement, Hoseok was sitting on the floor in the Hufflepuff common room with one of his classmates, practicing wand movements of a simple ink-revealing spell they were learning. The room was empty, apart from themselves and a couple that was sat in a corner, wrapped up in an intimate snogging session. 

“Aparecium,” Hoseok mumbled, while pointing his wand at a seemingly blank piece of parchment that the Professor had handed out to them earlier that day. Slowly, black ink appeared. _Congratulations_ , it read. He smiled at himself, satisfied with the result, and turned to his classmate who was desperately poking her wand into her own piece of parchment.

“I’m going to call it a night,” he told her, and she nodded, staring furiously at the blank paper. “Yeah, I think I’ll stay up for a little while longer.”  
Hoseok subtly glanced over at the other two girls in the corner of the room. “Good luck with that.”

After making his way upstairs, he changed into his dark-blue, striped pyjamas, and went to lie in bed, closing the curtains around him. He stared into the dark, and noticed it was very quiet in the dormitory. He turned on his side and peeked at Zed’s bed from a thin opening in the drapes. “You still awake?” he whispered, knowing his friend would understand he was talking to him. There was no answer, however, and Hoseok laid still in bed for a few minutes, trying to figure out whether he was being ignored.

“Zed?” he whispered after a while, a little louder this time. There was no answer. Hoseok frowned and sat up on the mattress, peeking his face through his curtains at his friend’s bed, carefully observing it. He saw no movement, and stepped out of bed with on leg, leaning in to get a closer look.

“Seriously, are you mad at me or something?” he said, not whispering anymore, now somewhat annoyed. However, when Hoseok approached the other bed and pulled the curtains aside, he noticed there was no one lying in it.

“Oh,” he said to himself, feeling a little stupid. He glanced at the other beds, where his four other roommates seemed to be sound asleep. Confused, he went to lie back down in on his own matrass, and stared at the outline of the wooden frame. Why was Zed still out of bed? Didn’t he realise how dangerous it was? That’s why the curfew had been set, after all. Should he go look for him? It was his responsibility to catch students out of bed – as a Prefect, but it could be dangerous. Hoseok squinted his eyes, deep in thought. Come to think of it, he actually hadn’t seen Zed since after lunch. Would he-  
_No._ Hoseok quickly shook the thought from his mind, and assured himself that his friend was fine.

However, when he awoke the next morning and he found Zed’s bed empty yet again, not spotting him at breakfast or any of their classes that day either, he decided to report it in, dreading the worst. Later that evening, his stomach dropped when the Headmaster took the stage, and his friend was officially announced to the entire school as missing.

Jungkook had sat down next to Hoseok at the Hufflepuff table, together with Yoongi. It had been two days since Zed had gone missing, and the entire school seemed to be out of it, now both convinced and frightened that something graver was going on that they had initially suspected. Hoseok had been in a dreadful mood, burdened with the guilt of knowing Zed had wanted to talk to him about something, but he had selfishly shaken him off.

“Please don’t put that on yourself, Hobi,” Jungkook affirmed. “I bet your friend and the other girl will be found in no time.”

Hoseok sighed, knowing the younger meant well, but somewhat annoyed regardless. Yoongi patted him on the back, the shadow of a faint smile on his lips. “Yeah, Hufflepuff’s are particularly goo-“

“Please don’t,” Hoseok said grimly, to which Yoongi did not finish his sentence, exchanging glances with Jungkook, who looked like he was going to burst out in tears. The Hufflepuff table had been exceptionally quiet for the past days, mourning the missing of one of their House mates in a completely different way than Slytherin did – who seemed to distract themselves as much as they could from the matter. Hoseok’s classes had been eerily calm and slow, all the Professors treating him like he was made of glass and could shatter at any given moment. Yes, one of his best friends had gone missing, but they did not have to act like he was already dead. He wasn’t. _Was he?_

“Hobi,” Yoongi spoke again, his tone serious this time. “I don’t have a lot of friends – hell, I’m not even sure I know what real friendship is supposed to be, or if I’m even a good friend to you,” he paused while Hoseok stared at him with saddened eyes. “But I do know that I hate to see you like this.” Jungkook nodded in agreement, struggling to see his new friend hurting.

“So fuck it,” Yoongi told the both of them. “Let’s go find Zed ourselves.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a huge Starkid fan, so if you got the AVPS-reference I really love you.


	3. The Show Must Go On

###  **Chapter 3 - The Show Must Go On**

“It could have been you or me, Tae. I’m just saying we should be more careful with going out of the castle all alone. We’re not even supposed to be practicing without a full team and a teacher present.”

Jimin stood in front of Taehyung on the Quidditch field, his gaze piercing; eyes locked onto his best friend. The whole field was empty besides the two of them, and both of them were dressed in their own team’s attire: One red, one yellow.

_Number 7 – Kim_  
_Number 2 – Park_

Taehyung stared at the Hufflepuff, who was a little shorter than him, his hair black and wavy, dancing to the side in rhythm with the soft breeze that glided through the air. It was fairly warm for a day in the middle of November, and the sun stood high up in the sky. The two friends had taken the opportunity to secretly – and not entirely legally – claim the Quidditch pitch to themselves in one of the few hours in the week that they had off at the same time. 

“If we get caught out we’ll land in detention again, or worse—we could get abducted, who knows what happened to the others.”

“Okay, first of all,” Taehyung began while raising a finger up in the air, clutching onto his broom in the other hand; a Platina 20k. “It’s the middle of the day. Second of all,” he raised another finger. “We’re not alone. We’re together, and I’d say we make an excellent team!” The Gryffindor put his hand on his best friend’s head and patted him softly, to which the Hufflepuff Chaser smiled weakly and gazed at the grass below them, kicking his foot into the dirt. “I guess I’m mostly just worried about you.”

Taehyung frowned; a grin curving around his lips at the same time, poking his index finger into his own chest. “Me?”

“Yes you!” Jimin glanced up and stared intensely at the 5th-year before him. “You do realise that the three students missing right now are a Slytherin girl, who’s been missing for nearly a month, a Hufflepuff boy, who went missing right after, and a Ravenclaw girl too since last week? If you look at the pattern, the next one to go missing would be a Gryffindor boy.” He put his hand in his side and raised an eyebrow at the blond before him. “And you always land yourself in some kind of trouble – sorry, I stand corrected. _Us._ ”

The Gryffindor Seeker cast his gaze up to the sky, casually tapping his foot into the grass and pouting his bottom lip. “That’s all harmless, Jiminie—“

“Harmless? I once spent two weeks in detention, because you dragged me outside in the middle of the night because you thought you’d seen a dragon from your dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower.”

Taehyung sighed. “It was very dark out and I was extremely fatigued because of our final exams.”

“It was a fucking _eagle_. Never in my entire life—I mean even if it _had_ been a dragon, going out to look for it would have been the worst possible idea!”  
The Gryffindor pursed his lips. “It was an _abnormally_ large eagle,” he mumbled softly, then continued on in his normal cheerful tone of voice. “Anyway, I’m not going to go and get myself missing, Jimin. I really don’t have time for that. With O.W.Ls this year and our matches it just won’t do, will it?”

Jimin was unconvinced by his friend’s words, but knew better than to push any further. Taehyung wasn’t always as good when it came to serious situations – he knew that and he’d known it for years, the two having been best friends since they were very young. 

Their mothers had been colleagues at the Daily Prophet, where they had bonded over their immense passion for Quidditch. Together they had one day decided to quit their jobs at the paper, and start a sports magazine: ‘Queen of the Quaffle’, now the most popular Quidditch magazine in the country. This was all long before Taehyung and Jimin were even born. The two boys grew up together, learned to hover on their toy-brooms together in the yard on pleasant spring afternoons, and had learned everything there was about Quidditch from their mothers, naturally taking over their fiery passion.

When the time had finally arrived to go to Hogwarts, Jimin’s heart had dropped into his stomach upon being sorted into Hufflepuff, while Taehyung had taken place minutes before at the Gryffindor table. The two had gaped at each other with while Jimin had taken place on the other side of the Great Hall. It isn’t necessarily that Jimin had wanted to be a Gryffindor – for he deemed himself far from the boldest or bravest – but being away from his best friend had been new to him. The enthusiastic, extroverted blond had done well for himself in their first weeks at Hogwarts; easily making a lot of new friends in his own House. Jimin had had more trouble adjusting, unconsciously pushing people away from him out of sadness.

However, this had thankfully changed in their second year, when Jimin had decided for himself to stop wallowing in self-pity after seeing Taehyung had received so many letters over the summer break, and he had received none himself. He had been determined to take the example of his best friend to be more open and energetic, and had soon discovered back at Hogwarts that the people in his House were the friendliest, most loyal, and open-minded people he had ever met, and he found himself to be extremely compatible with almost each and every one of them – perhaps even more compatible than with Taehyung. The young Gryffindor was and would always be his best friend, but it was good knowing he was independent; he was his own person, with his own qualities. 

“Alright,” Jimin declared. “Just know that if you do go missing, I won’t come look for you. With O.W.Ls and our matches I simply don’t have the time,” to which the two laughed. Taehyung swung one of his legs over his broomstick, taking place on the seat and landing his foot onto the metal foot rest, and let the wind soar through his hair as he flitted through the air with Jimin trailing right behind him.

When Jimin awoke on an early morning, a week after the secret Quidditch practice, he wasn’t alone. He turned to his other side in his bed only to come face to face – literally – with someone else. As their heads crashed into each other, Jimin shrieked and bolted upright, the blond in his bed groaned and rubbed his fingers over his forehead.

“Ow, rude awakenings,” Taehyung grunted, his voice still raspy from sleepiness. He tugged at Jimin’s covers and pulled them up until his nose as he closed his eyes again to go back asleep.

“I swear to god, Tae,” Jimin hissed, staring down at the boy in his bed, hogging _his_ blanket, not for the first time. “I don’t know who keeps letting you in, but you need to stop crawling into my bed.”

“Mah, but Jiminie,” the Gryffindor yawned, opening one eye at the boy in soft, white pyjamas. “You were worried about me, I thought it’d be better if we slept together.”

“You can’t just leave your bed empty at night in the situation we’re in, your roommates might report you mis—“

“Nah, they know I’m here.”

The Hufflepuff sighed and let himself fall back onto the matrass, which shook at the impact. Around his bed the heavy, yellow drapes were closed, but Jimin could see through a small creek that it was still dark. He was quite sure he had woken up some of his roommates up with his reaction to unexpectedly finding Taehyung, for the umpteenth time, in his bed. The worst thing was that they probably knew by now it had been the stubborn Gryffindor that had caused Jimin to shriek so loudly, since it had happened multiple times over the past two years. Someone in Hufflepuff had been letting Taehyung in all this time, and although Jimin’s roommates had been a little weirded out at first, they had soon just rolled with it, finding the uninvited guest - to Jimin’s simultaneous irritation and amusement - hilarious most of the time.

Jimin turned his back on the blond and felt an arm being flung around his waist, to which he sighed in protest, but did nothing to stop Taehyung from pulling in closer and cuddling him from behind, nuzzling his face into Jimin’s black hair, and breathing softly and warmly into his neck. The two closed their eyes and soon fell back asleep.

###### 

“ _Reducio._ ”

Taehyung let the pyjamas he had been wearing shrink, and jerked his wand away from his clothes when the whole set fit into the palm of his hand. Moments before he had pulled a set of mini-robes from his bag, which were now life-sized once again, and on him. With a content smile he tucked the tiny pyjamas away in one of the pockets of his robes, and turned to the Hufflepuff boys in the room, who were sleepily getting dressed.

“Alright, gotta run!” he told them while waving and pacing towards the door.

Jimin, already fully in robes, followed his best friend down the stairs and into the Hufflepuff cellar common room. He observed his friend as they stood in the room, and noticed the Gryffindor had enlarged his robes too much, since they looked about half a size too big. The black fabric was hanging loosely off Taehyung’s body, the white button-up shirt under his grey sweater only half tucked into his trousers, and the knot of his tie sloppy. An extreme urge crept up on Jimin, and he wished he could have at least tied Taehyung’s tie properly—but he knew better than to try that. The blond still had the smile on his face, and his bed-hair poked in every direction. “You know, I’ve always liked this common room,” he said.

“And you better keep that to yourself, Tae! You know you are the first non-Hufflepuff to have seen our common room in a thousand yea—“ Jimin began, but was abruptly cut off by Taehyung who wildly ran his hand through his friends’ black hair, untidying it. The Hufflepuff pulled back and quickly flattened his hair back down with both of his hands. “Stop it.”

“You look too pretty, Jiminie. I can’t let you seduce anyone else but me, now can I?” Taehyung joked, to which Jimin sighed, but could not help letting the shadow of a smile slip through. “See you in a bit!” the Gryffindor called out while making his way to the exit, past a few confused first-year students, pushing the perfectly round, wooden door open and stepping into the cellar corridor. 

Under normal circumstances, Taehyung would have just joined Jimin to the Great Hall, but with three students gone missing, there were some new rules at Hogwarts. One of these rules meant that every morning, every House was to be picked up by a teacher and guided to the Hall for breakfast after a student count. The last girl that had gone missing, a 4th-year Ravenclaw student, had supposedly gone to bed at the same time as all the girls from her year, yet the next morning they had found her bed cold and empty.

As agile and soundless as possible, Taehyung made his way through the cellar to the stairs that would lead him to the first floor, after which he could take a convenient shortcut to the seventh. He passed several rows of barrels, and oddly colourful paintings of fruit and vegetables (which had distracted him greatly many times before), until he reached the end of the corridor and ascended the stairs.

Right before turning the corner that would put him face-to-face with the Fat Lady, Taehyung could hear voices erupting from within the Gryffindor common room. He wasn’t too late, was he? He had made sure to leave in time for the count.

“And _where_ have you been?!” the Fat Lady shrieked as Taehyung appeared into sight, but he ignored the question rudely. “Naufragio, naufragio.”

“Yeah sure, don’t mind me—I’m only just a portrait after all,” the Fat Lady snapped at the boy before her, and swung open with force. Taehyung climbed through the hole and could hear the voices getting louder; he could now clearly distinct panic in some of them.

The common room was completely full of people, some in robes, some still in their pyjamas. Something was clearly wrong, and Taehyung fell right in the middle of it as he appeared in sight of the group of Gryffindors and he was spotted by his friends.

“Look who decided to show! Had a good night’s sleep, did you?” Grayson, a 6th-year Chaser on the Quidditch House team, pushed himself past some students and halted in front of Taehyung, towering half a head over him.

“Well actually I did, thank yo—“ 

“This is seriously not the time for jokes, Tae.”

The younger glared around at his friends and Housemates. “What’s going on? You weren’t looking for me, were you? ‘Cause Fynn and Riley knew where I was, I made sure to tell them.”

Grayson seemed unimpressed by Taehyung’s attempts to cover himself when taking his leave from the Gryffindor Tower the night before. “Honestly, do you really think the whole House would be gathered like this in panic if _you_ went missing? I don’t think it would surprise anyone if you _had_ been the one—“ 

“Okay, enough.”

Gryffindor Keeper, Lucy, pushed herself through the crowd and tugged at Grayson’s robes. She, herself, was still in her purple sleeping attire, her white-blond hair was unbrushed, and her eyes expressed grave concern. With a sigh she turned herself to Taehyung, who finally realised, upon seeing the state of his friend, that this whole commotion was not about him. 

“Wait, what’s going on, Luce?” he asked and dropped his bag to the floor with a thud. Grayson merely shook his head and turned away, crossing his arms; it was unlike him to fall out against Taehyung, and with every passing second without an answer, the young Gryffindor dreaded what was coming more and more.

“We’re not completely sure yet, but maybe—did you happen to see Dahlia on your way here?” Lucy asked him weakly. Taehyung shook his head slowly and swallowed. All the Gryffindors were now listening to the conversation taking place near the exit in complete silence, exchanging restless glances with each other.

All heads turned to the exit when it swung open, Head of Gryffindor and Potions Professor, Snowhe, entered the common room, looking extremely tired and unamused. He flinched upon finding all of Gryffindor House gathered together, especially confused at the ones still in their pyjamas.

“Ah—uh,” he stammered while blinking heavily a few times, all eyes turned to him. “Please get dressed, children.”

 _”Professor,”_ Lucy spoke up in tears, pausing for a moment as her voice trembled heavily. “Please report our Team Captain as missing.”

###### 

After the official announcement at breakfast, Jimin ran to the Gryffindor table, lunging himself on top of Taehyung and hitting him on the head repeatedly with a rolled up Daily Prophet.

“H-hey!”

“Are. You. Serious?!” Jimin yelled at him, and the students on both sides of Taehyung ducked away. “I am so… _so_ mad!”

Taehyung managed to hold Jimin still by grabbing onto both of his wrists and pulling him into his lap. “Please calm down,” he told the Hufflepuff, who had tears in his eyes in a mixture of anger, sadness, and fear.

“T-Tae,” he sniffed into his friend’s robes. “I told you the next one would be a Gryffindor.”

“Well technically you said it would be a boy—“

“Will you shut your mouth for once?!” 

Taehyung was taken aback by the way Jimin snapped at him, not used to seeing his best friend in a state of anger so grave. He two locked eyes with each other, tears still running down Jimin’s. 

“Jiminie…” was the only thing the young Gryffindor managed to say when he saw the pain his friend was in, suddenly not knowing how to deal the situation anymore, realising that if he would try to make another joke, it would only offend the Hufflepuff.

Then, reality finally sank in. The previous three students that had gone missing had been people Taehyung had not known personally. Somehow it seemed much further away, and he had convincingly stated to other people that they would all turn up one way or another—but he was not so convinced himself anymore. 

It was Dahlia this time. His friend. The Gryffindor Team Captain. And that wasn’t all. The fact that the Slytherin girl who had gone missing first, was now missing for over a month indicated that she either had to been taken from the castle by force or….

…be dead.

The youngster shook his head slowly, overcome by wide spectrum of emotions, unconsciously squeezing Jimin’s thin wrists harder in his large hands. 

“Ow, you’re hurting me,” the Hufflepuff whispered, to which Taehyung softly gasped and quickly let go.

“I-I’m so sorry,” he stuttered, and Jimin smiled weakly at him as he rubbed his hands over the reddening skin. Taehyung rested his head down on Jimin’s arm from the side, struggling to grasp and process the sudden, harsh sense of reality.

The Great Hall was awfully quiet, and only the sound of murmurs and cutlery clattering on the plates could be heard over all four tables. Taehyung and Jimin sat in silence for a while, unmoved. It was finally the blond who broke the silence between them, in a soft whisper in the black-haired boy’s ear.

“I have to find her, Jiminie. She’s my friend and—“ he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes welling up with tears. He swallowed them away. “Without her we can’t play any matches anymore, you know?”

Jimin turned himself to Taehyung, facing him and pressing their foreheads together. “What if you’ll go missing too?” 

The Gryffindor laughed with a fake confidence. “They’ll never take me alive—ah.”  
The damage had already been done, and Jimin pulled away, staring at his friend in a serious and stern manner. “Okay,” he nodded. “Wherever you go, I’ll go. We’ll find her together, Tae. We’ll find all of them.”

A grin curved around Taehyung’s lips at Jimin’s bold statement, and the Hufflepuff sighed. “And I’m really hoping detention will be the worst thing to cross our paths.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love Vmin, so I couldn't help myself - the story won't revolve around that, though :)


	4. Genius

###  **Chapter 4 - Genius**

December was approaching, and Jungkook spend most of his free time in the library with a sleepy, but hard-working Yoongi, often joined by a distressed Hobi. The youngest was leaning back into his usual chair next to Yoongi at their usual table in the back of the room, bathing in the warm rays of sunlight that shone in through the window, with his eyes closed. He heard quiet footsteps approach them.

“Yo guys.”

Opening one eye, Jungkook noticed Hobi had joined them at the table, having sat down in the chair opposite from himself. The Hufflepuff smiled, but the younger recognised it for a fake and forced one – something Hobi had now trained himself to do in order to fool the world around him. 

“Oi,” the younger Slytherin of the two greeted in reply, Yoongi merely grunting in acknowledgement of his friend’s arrival, not glancing up from his book. Hobi’s fake smile faded quickly as he turned himself to the older one. “Can we talk?”

“Sure we can,” Jungkook cheekily answered, knowing very well the question had not been directed at him. Despite their pact to work together to find Zed, and the other missing students along with him, his older friends had mostly excluded the younger Slytherin from their investigation, much to his frustration. Hobi sighed and glanced at Jungkook, who was now sitting upright in his chair, his hands on the table and eyes fixed on the Hufflepuff before him. “Listen, I know you’re annoyed we’re not telling you stuff, but we can’t risk it, Kook. It’s because we care about your safe—“

“You don’t have to worry about my safety,” the younger immediately interrupted him, his eyes sparkling madly with excitement. “I’m brilliant, honestly. I can take care of myself.”

Yoongi snickered while still fixated on the dusty book he was reading, pages of loose parchment sticking out of it. “Your brat is showing, Kook.” Jungkook ignored the comment. “You might need me, Hobi,” he continued in the hope to convince his friend, a subtle hint of arrogance woven through his tone of voice as he bluffed, “I might know more than I’m letting on.”

“Alright, let’s hear it then,” Hobi chuckled. Jungkook merely stared at him, not expecting the Hufflepuff student to actually respond to his bluff – as he usually waved them into the wind without further acknowledgement. “I—eh,” Jungkook hesitated, and a dark grin curved across Yoongi’s lips in the seat next to him, the older Slytherin now looking up from his book and locking his eyes onto his Housemate in a provocative, almost sensuous manner. It was a gaze that Jungkook recognised all too well, knowing the older would surely start to tease him in a way only he could – a way that made the younger lose all ability to think and speak normally, turning his throat dry while Yoongi contently eyed him up and down with his dark and deep irises that sparkled with playful wickedness.

“Be a good boy for me and share all the juice with us, will you, Kookie? Surely you wouldn’t want me on your bad side?”

Jungkook scraped his throat while feeling his cheeks flush a deep shade of pink. “N-no,” he stuttered, despite his efforts to sound confident in his answer to the older beside him, who now leaned in closer to him over the table, his eyes still locked intensely on him, “Well I overheard s-something,” Jungkook started, completely unsure of what he was going to say. Yoongi’s grin widened, and Hobi was now, too, staring with an exaggerated interest at the youngest of their group, the left corner of his mouth curved up ever so slightly in sync with his left eyebrow, “Go on.” 

“I-it was in the common room,” Jungkook swallowed nervously, being overwhelmed by his bluff backfiring. “I think someone mentioned the lake—“

“You’re lying to me, Kookie.”

The younger met Yoongi’s gaze, but was not able to hold it for longer than a split second. He cast his eyes to the wooden table, shamed on having been called out so quickly.

“There is nothing, and I mean _nothing_ , that gets past Seokjin in the Slytherin common room,” Yoongi lectured him, “and he has not once mentioned the lake to me.” 

Hobi chuckled at the humorous and dramatic scene that had unfolded in front of him, and shook his head. “Oh, oh. You cannot expect to out-bluff a master bluffer, Kook. This man has managed to pass some of his classes on the shit you’re trying to pull. I’d stay very close to him; you might learn a thing or two.” 

Yoongi glared at his friend and deviously smiled at the compliment given to him. His chair scraped over the floor as he pushed it back, and he slammed his book shut as he got up. “Let’s go have that talk, Hobi.” The Hufflepuff nodded and cheerfully waved back at a defeated and subdued Jungkook, who was left behind at the table as usual. “Damnit,” he whispered to himself, beaten up over the fact that he had, once again, not succeeded in convincing his two friends to let him join in on the adventure. His eyes flickered over the table as his he tried to calm his chaotic mind.

_It’s only because he was younger they wouldn’t let him join in. His grades were much higher than any of theirs when they were his age – he knew a lot of things. Surely the people in his own year despised him for it, but when it came to Yoongi and Hobi he just… he wanted to prove himself so badly. Show them what he could do and what a great asset he could be to their team; that he could be a good friend to them._

While the frustration boiled up in his chest, Jungkook suddenly spotted something out of place. Something that shouldn’t have been there anymore. He took a quick glance around the room to ensure his friends were really gone, and then pulled Yoongi’s black notebook from under one of the library books. The leather felt rough on his skin as he stroked his fingers over it, intrigued by the feeling as he had never actually touched it before – only looked at it. Swallowing at feeling a lump form in his throat, he hesitated.

_This was all Yoongi’s work; the spells he had invented and the ones still in development. Should he…_

_…No._

_Then again, Hobi was the one who told Jungkook to stay close to Yoongi and learn from him. Surely taking a peek at the other Slytherin’s brilliant work was a form of bluffing. Perhaps this was exactly what he was meant to do. Perhaps the notebook had been left there for him by a chance of fate._

Slowly, Jungkook opened the notebook on the first page, feeling his stomach getting heavier with every passing second, and the lump in his throat getting bigger.

_Property of Min Yoongi, House of Slytherin._  
_If you have found this notebook, return it to me immediately._  
_May you fail to do so, I will be forced to punish you._  
_Interpret that however you want._

_Punish?_ Jungkook giggled, unsure about how to feel at what he just read, but for some reason visualising Yoongi with a whip in his hand. He turned another page and found sections of unreadable notes, scribbled so hastily and sloppily that the Slytherin was sure only Yoongi could read them. It took a few more turns of parchment pages before Jungkook found something readable – the sections that followed from there seemed more organised and were divided by lines drawn horizontally across the paper. The young student let his eyes flick across the notes, seeing if there would be anything of use.

_* Minuere flamma ignis – Tame the wildest of fires instantly. Tested successfully._  
_* Statim delere – Wipe any paper blank instantly. Tested successfully_  
_* Deleri curasset – Recover wiped page. Tested successfully. (!)Note: Only works within 12 hours of wiping._  
_* Cogita quae in cicuitu – Reflect environment around used to camouflage. Tested semi-successfully. (!)Note: Spell may have to be shortened / wand movement may have to be adjusted._  
_* Lux profondum maris – Emit blue light from the tip of the wand. Tested successfully. (!)Note: May caused water to squirt out of the wand if not articulated correctly._  
_* Ligant vineae – Bind someone with vines by wrists. Tested semi-successfully. (!)Note: Vines may have thorns, causing bleeding._

To match every spell there was a small drawing that showed the movement of the wand that was to be made to cast it. Jungkook observed the pages, his heart pounding with excitement, not knowing which ones to choose from. He quickly reached out to a small piece of parchment and Yoongi’s ink-set that he had left behind, and wrote down some of the more interesting spells down.

_He wouldn’t share them with anyone. Just use them. Maybe fine-tune them._

Not having any space left to write, Jungkook flipped the notebook over to close it, but opened it on another page by accident. 

_Tested unsuccessfully_ Yoongi’s handwriting read, and the young Slytherin let his eyes wander down to a small section of spells that Yoongi still had in development.

_* Hologram Hex: Replicatione sui(?) – Speculum(?) – Effingo sui(?). (!)Note: Correct combination not yet found._

_* Cogitatio – Reflect imagination as visuals onto environment. (!)Note: Tested successfully once when drunk, otherwise failed._

_* Counter Imperius-curse: Conteram Animi Carcerem. (!)Note: Tested with Imperius-curse on insects. All subjects have died during testing. Counter-curse seems too powerful. Yet to be tested on a human subject._

Jungkook blinked while furrowing his brow. _Tested with Imperius-curse_ he read again, and was suddenly overcome with a strong sense of uneasiness. If anyone else were ever to find this notebook, Yoongi could be expelled – perhaps even arrested due to casting one of the Unforgivable Curses. The younger had always assumed his Housemate had merely joked about testing the counter Imperius-curse on him, but now he wasn’t so sure anymore. Jungkook shook off the thought. _Yoongi wasn’t evil. He did it all for research purposes._  
All the writing was, like the others, matched with drawings of wand movements; several more options given this time per spell, all followed by large question marks. Jungkook quickly glanced around the table and ripped off a piece of paper sticking out of one of the library books. There wasn’t much blank space to write on, so he shortened as much of the notes as he could, convinced he would later be able to remember them fully. After copying everything as quickly as he could, he slammed the notebook shut and slammed it back under the book where he had found it in the first place.  
He smiled contently at himself while folding the two pieces of parchment in half and tucking them in his robes, ensuring they would not fall out. With his heart pounding like crazy in excitement and a light shock at the same time, Jungkook waited for his two friends to return from their talk outside of the library, his hand still over the pocket where he had stowed all the stolen spells.

###### 

Determined to prove his worth to his two friends, Yoongi especially – Yoongi mainly, Jungkook made a plan of action. The days after taking the spells, he studied the pieces of parchment in bed, with the curtains closed tightly around his bed, making sure there was not a single gap in them.

”Cogita.. quae in.. cicuitu,” he whispered as quietly as possible while flicking his wand up in the air, like the drawing instructed, and then waved it at himself. Nothing happened. Jungkook studied the wand movement again and sighed. Perhaps he had been too liberal with copying the sketches. Now that he looked at it again, he was pretty sure this is not what Yoongi had put down on paper. Regardless, he tried again.

”Cogita quae in cicuitu.”

Jungkook tried moving his wand in the opposite direction, without result. Perhaps there was a trick to it; it was a long spell after all. The Slytherin knew that when it came to long spells the wand movements were usually rhythm-based. 

_Win-gar-dium levi-o-sa. The swish and flick were right on the emphasis of both words._

It was quite brilliant, but the young student then realised he did actually not have any idea what the exact pronunciation of the camouflage spell was. Yet again, he sighed.

“Cogita,” he started, waving his want from left to right in a smoother movement than before, “quae in cicuitu.” 

There was a sudden glisten to his left as a large, transparent panel of sorts appeared in mid-air, about the same size of himself. Jungkook’s eyes widened in surprise and gaped at it. Slowly, he reached out his hand and touched the panel, which rippled softly at the impact; like water. “Holy shit,” he whispered while smiling, shifting on his bed to look at the other side of the panel. It, however, moved together with him, facing the direction his body did. Jungkook’s mouth widened in shock and extreme joy. “Oh my god!” Hastily, he positioned himself on the middle of the bed, his back straight. Gripping onto his wand tightly and pointing it up in the air in front of him, Jungkook was filled with determination and grinned as he whispered the words once again.

“Cogita quae in cicuitu.”

###### 

“We’ve been over this a thousand times—“

“Then we’ll do it two thousand times, Freya! Our friend is missing, if there is anything we forgot to consider it could be the death of her.”

“She’s probably already dead…”

“Please don’t say that.”

The two Slytherin girls that had positioned themselves strategically in one of the booths on the stairs that led up to the Divination tower, sat hunched over, facing each other and locked in the most intense of gazes. The blonde one, whose name seemed to be Freya, sighed and ripped her eyes away from her brunette friend and stared out of the window.  
As December had come, the weather had drastically changed from the abnormally warm November-weather they had had, to icy wind and rain. The lake, which could be seen from the window, was ever so slightly frozen – not enough to stand or skate on yet; not that they would be allowed to do that this year.  
Jungkook was standing on a few steps below the two girls on the stairs, and had his mouth covered with his hand, his wand clutched in the other. He stared at his fellow Slytherin as they continued their conversation.

“She had been talking about being unhappy about her writing two days before she disappeared. Then went on about never being able to get any rest that same evening,” Freya summed up, as she had probably done many times before. “The next day she was spotted alone on the seventh floor – this floor – by some Gryffindor guys, and then—“ 

“Disappears the next day,” the second Slytherin girl finished. Frey nodded and they cast they eyes to the floor. None of them spoke for a good minute, both seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

“And you know what the stupid thing is?” Freya finally added, a sad smile on her face. “I read her last story and it was really good. I don’t understand what she was complaining about – I mean, it was a story about _trolls_ out of all things, but it was good nonetheless.” As the two girls sat in silence for a good few minutes, Jungkook got impatient and decided he had heard enough. He stepped down the stairs with utmost care, as quietly as possible, only removing his hand away from his mouth when he reached the bottom and was sure that there was no one around to hear him breathe.

_The missing Slytherin girl was spotted on the seventh floor the day before she disappeared, alone. No one was allowed to roam around the castle alone, so that was definitely a lead._

Jungkook let his feet automatically carry him through the corridor that lead away from the North Tower, letting his thoughts on the loose, and came to an abrupt halt when he heard voices around the corner ahead of him. Snapping back to reality, he glanced around and noticed that he had walked in the direction of the the Gryffindor Tower somehow. The reflective panels that prevented others from seeing him still shone brightly around him, and he nodded to himself. He covered his mouth with his hand once again, in order to silence the sounds of his breathing, and peeked around the corner.  
There were two boys standing in the corridor, very close to where he was. He swallowed nervously and made sure his breathing was as calm as possible. The face of one of them, a blond Gryffindor, he could see clearly. The other, however, stood with his back turned to Jungkook.

“—just saying that perhaps we should ask other people for help. We haven’t gotten any further so far.”

“Ah,” the blond Gryffindor sighed while shaking his head with a concerned frown, “I don’t want to involve other people in this, it could be dangerous.”

“Oh-oh-hoo!” the other sassed while shifting his arms away from his side, most likely crossing them over each other – Jungkook could not see. “But involving me in anything stupid you do is no problem, what about my safety?”

“Hey!” the blond raised his eyebrows at the other while grinning. “You got yourself involved in this, you volunteered.”

“This time, yeah. All the other times, not so much.”

Although it sounded like the two were in an argument with each other, they seemed to be having fun, and Jungkook wondered if it was the same type of banter that Hobi and Yoongi had with each other. The young Slytherin did not have many friends himself – not at home, not at school. There always seemed to be people who disliked him for his achievements; the children of his parents’ friends, the students at school, and even his own cousins. The young one smiled while observing the two before him as they laughed together, and the blond circled his arm around his friend and turned him the other way, now facing Jungkook. It was a Hufflepuff boy, shorter and slimmer than the blond Gryffindor, his face kind and soft-looking.  
“Maybe we can ask Dahlia’s friends if they know anything, then,” the blond one said, and the two came walking towards where Jungkook was standing. Slowly, the young Slytherin backed up to ensure the two would not bump into him, but blew his cover when he stepped on his own robe and tripped backwards, gasping as he fell to the floor with a loud thud.  
The two boys, who were now standing right in front of him, froze in their tracks, their eyes opened wide in caution, listening to their surroundings with vigilance. The Hufflepuff reached inside his robes and pulled out his wand, pointing it into the corridor. 

“Homenum Revelio!” he yelled, and Jungkook felt something swooping low over him as he desperately tried to scramble back to his feet. He glanced up and noticed a bright, white ball of energy spinning right over his head, revealing his position. The Gryffindor instantly stepped forward and waved both of his arms at the space under the marker, hitting the front panel of Jungkook’s camouflage. It suddenly flickered, like a broken light, and shattered shortly after, the pieces disappearing into thin air. The young Slytherin, who was half in the process of getting back up on his feet, was revealed to the other two, and the Hufflepuff instantly pointed his wand directly at his face. 

“W-who are you?!” he yelled at Jungkook, who leaned his hand against the wall on his right in order to get back up. “I—uh, I’m—“ he stammered, and the blond grinned, his wand now also directed at the Slytherin before him. “Oooh, a sneaky little snake!” he chuckled. “What business does a little snake like yourself have near the Gryffindor Tower?”

“I could ask you the same thing about him,” Jungkook gestured at the Hufflepuff, who raised him eyebrows at him, clearly having taken offence. “I _happen_ to be his friend!”

“I’m also here for a friend,” Jungkook lied smoothly. Bluffing his way out of things was much easier when Yoongi wasn’t there to tease him. “I came alone, so I didn’t want to be caught by a teacher.”

The two boys before him glanced at each other and slowly lowered their wands, convinced that the young Slytherin wasn’t a threat. Jungkook took a subtle, deep breath in relief. Recovering from the initial shock, he straightened his back and took out his own wand, waving it at the four remaining reflective panels on his left and right, behind him and hovering over him. As they disappeared, the Gryffindor’s eyes widened yet again – not in shock this time, but in extreme fascination.

“What was that spell you were using? You were invisible, weren’t you?!” he excitedly said, his voice now a pitch higher than it had been before. Jungkook grinned contently. “Not invisible, really. The panels reflect your direct environment, sort of like mirrors. It gives the illusion of being invisible. People can still hear or touch you – like you just witnessed,” he explained, unsure why he was sharing Yoongi’s precious information with two strangers he had just met. There was a split second of regret at the thought of his friend scolding him, but he pushed it away.

“Woahohoho,” the Hufflepuff boy laughed, clearly impressed, “that is amazing!” His blond friend nodded in agreement. “Absolutely amazing!” Jungkook couldn’t help but feel burdened at taking the credit for Yoongi’s work, despite the fact that he had been the one to have successfully carry it out. He smiled at the other two, “Actually my friend invented the spell, I just cast it.”

“Whaoooooo!” the shorter boy gaped at Jungkook. “He _invented_ it himself? He must be a genius.” Jungkook nodded in acknowledgement. _Yoongi really was a genius._  
The Slytherin flinched when the Gryffindor approached him with a quick pace and wrapped his arm around his neck, pulling Jungkook’s head close to his own. “D’you think you could teach me that spell? We’re investigating the mystery of the missing students; it might come in handy.” A little taken aback at the touch of his fellow student, but a wide smile then curving around his lips, Jungkook nodded. “I could teach you. I’m also investigating the case. There are already some things I found out about the missing Slytherin girl.”  
The boy holding him in his grip raised his eyebrows in surprise as he stared at the younger student. “Really? You’re quite the genius yourself, aren’t you?” Jungkook gushed at the compliment, feeling himself turn pink.  
“I’m Taehyung and that’s Jimin,” the Gryffindor continued, “and if you want we could team up. We don’t have a lot of information up until now, but we’re lots of fun – most of the time.”  
Smiling like crazy, Jungkook glanced from Taehyung to Jimin and back, feeling his chest swell up with a warmth he had never felt before in his life. It shot through all of his limbs and turned his ears and cheeks the brightest shade of red. He chuckled as the other two smiled kindly at him, both of their eyes sparkling in excitement, and he felt his heart pound fast as he nodded eagerly. “I’d love to!"


	5. Seventh Floor

###  **Chapter 5 - Seventh Floor**

Something was staring at him. He could feel eyes prying from within the dark – evil eyes, burning into his skin, piercing right through the depths of his soul. There was something in the shadows, lurking. Something – or someone, relishing in his fear and despair. It wasn’t doing a very good job at hiding itself, obtrusively shifting through the darkness. 

“I could show you.”

A sly voice came from behind him, and Namjoon made a full 180 turn, only to find himself staring at more thick fog.

“You want to find them, don’t you?”

The voice sent chills down his spine, and he turned his head to examine the entire area. It was impossible to see anything, and Namjoon wished he had never entered the room when the door had first appeared in front of him. Damn his curiosity. Where was Jin when you needed him? Surely he would have noticed by now Namjoon was gone. _Missing._

“I could show you.”

Namjoon took a brave step forward and straightened his back.  
“You should show me yourself first!” he called out, expecting to hear his voice echo back at him, but his words did not seem to reach very far; like they popped out of his mouth and vaporised right in front of him. Like he wasn’t _really_ able to speak at all.  
However, he was convinced the entity in the room had heard his demand, and he waited for an answer. Once it would show itself Namjoon would be able to touch it. And whatever could be touched, could be hurt. It was simple logic.

After minutes of silence – a silence so loud it was almost deafening, Namjoon suddenly felt the fog invading his lungs and his throat tightening. It felt like there was something stuck in his pipe, making it harder to breathe with every passing second. Namjoon swayed on his feet as he wrapped his hand around his throat.

“Breathe, Namjoon. Don’t forget to breathe.”

“S-Shut… u-up!” Namjoon forced out with the little air he had left in his lungs.

“Hmm, rude.”

He could feel himself slipping away and closed his eyes. A cold set of fingers wrapped themselves around his arm, and he took in a huge gulp of air as he bolted upright at the touch and saw who it was beside him.

Jin was bent over him beside his bed, eyeing him with great curiosity. His hand was wrapped around Namjoon’s arm, as the Ravenclaw was sat upright in his bed in the Ravenclaw dormitory. The curtains around his bed were pulled open and white daylight lit up the entire room, which seemed to be empty apart from the two of them. The other beds were neatly made and the usual uniforms and bags beside them gone. 

With deep, heavy breaths, Namjoon stared at the Slytherin beside him in confusion. He suddenly noticed his pyjamas were soaked in sweat, as well as his covers. Jin merely stared at him with a grin, not seeming to be affected by the state his friend was in at all.

“Nightmare, I’d say,” he told Namjoon, who nodded and sank back down on his bed, regretting it as he felt his wet shirt stick to his back, and his hair pressing onto his equally sweat-drenched pillow. He immediately bolted upright again as he realised something.  
“Wait—what time is it?!” he croaked, to which Jin laughed and pulled his hand off his friend’s arm, waving it up in the air theatrically. “Three in the afternoon.”

“WHAT?!”

Almost kicking Jin in the process, Namjoon jumped out of his bed and frantically started collecting his things from out of his trunk beside the bed. Jin laughed, clearly amused at the dreadful state of his friend, who turned to him in anger. “This isn’t funny! I’m missing my classes!”  
Jin’s laugh turned even louder, almost squeaking as he wiped the wetness from his eyes. 

“You’ve already missed all your classes, Joonie.”

Namjoon immediately stopped in his tracks, dropping the books he was holding onto the wooden floor. Jin stepped towards him and circled an arm around his best friend. 

“You’re welcome.”

It confused Namjoon. It confused him and angered him at the same time, and his voice trembled in frustration when he spoke. “What the fuck did you do?”

Jin rolled his eyes and stepped through the dormitory, peeking out of the window. It was cold out. Christmas was approaching, but there was nothing festive about the atmosphere in the castle. Everyone seemed stressed and uptight. Something Jin understood, but hardly cared for. Namjoon, however, had greatly been affected by the entirety of the situation, and _that_ he did care for. Jin turned back to his friend and gifted him with an honest, kind smile – something he did not honour many with. Namjoon seemed taken aback and Jin noticed the anger melt off his face. 

“My pumpkin juice…” Namjoon whispered, “I already thought it tasted a little weird. So I’m not crazy after all.”

“Well,” Jin chuckled with an eyebrow raised at his friend, “that’s up for debate, but yes – you’re right. You needed a good night’s rest. It accidentally turned into a night and day’s rest, but—“ 

“A sleeping potion?!” the Ravenclaw exclaimed while fisting his hands through his hair. Jin cocked his head to the side, feeling a little guilty at how bad Namjoon seemed to feel. “You haven’t slept properly in weeks, Joonie. This investigation is getting to your head, so I’m holding an intervention. Don’t worry, I reported you in sick for all of your classes this morning.”

Defeated, the young Ravenclaw sat back down in his bed and shook his head. He wasn’t angry at Jin, not anymore. The Slytherin tended to show his affection in the strangest ways, but Namjoon recognised it for affection nonetheless. And he was right. This investigation _was_ getting to his head; it had been driving him crazy for weeks. Ever since Dahlia had gone missing last it had all become a little too much. There had been no real connection to the other three students, but he actually liked Dahlia, turning the case more into a personal matter rather than solely a competition. 

“You’re right,” Namjoon whispered at his friend, an overwhelming sadness brewing up within him. The Slytherin joined him on the bed and stared at him, biting his bottom lip at trying to find the right words of comfort. At a loss, he took out his wand instead and pointed it at his friend.

“Tergeo.”

Namjoon felt the cold stains of sweat being sucked out of this robes, leaving them clean and dry. His hair, however, was still stuck to his forehead as a result from his nightmare, his body still in the afterglow of his fear.

“Maybe,” Jin started, his tone a little hesitant, “we should share everything we found out with each other. Whoever finds out what happened to all the missing students still wins, but…” he paused and placed his hand on Namjoon’s back as a kind gesture, “at least working together means we have a better chance of finding them at all.”

Under normal circumstances, Namjoon may have suspected this to be another one of Jin’s sly tricks to share his knowledge with him. But these weren’t normal circumstances; this went beyond their silly competition, even if that was what started it all. No, Namjoon knew his friend was sincere this time, and did not hesitate for a moment.

“The Ravenclaw and Slytherin girls were best friends,” he told Jin, who raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? That might explain why the both of them disappeared. The Ravenclaw probably went after her friend, wouldn’t you say?”

Namjoon nodded in agreement, having fit some of the pieces together himself already. There wasn’t much he knew about the disappearance of the Slytherin girl, but he had inquired with _everyone_ in Ravenclaw about their missing Housemate.  
“Apparently,” he continued, “Professor Flitwick gave her detention a day before her disappearance. She had been roaming around his office, alone. People say she was looking for a statue.”

Jin’s gaze immediately intensified, his pupils doubling in size as they were locked with Namjoon’s. “Seventh floor.”  
The Ravenclaw nodded, a little freaked out by Jin’s sudden change, his friend’s eyes now flicking from side to side, sparkling with a mad sense of excitement that only tended to show itself when the Slytherin found out about something incredibly secret or exclusive.

“The Slytherin girl,” Jin said so softly it was almost a whisper, “she was spotted near the Gryffindor Tower a day before her disappearance. I hadn’t thought much of it before, but—”

The same excitement flushed over Namjoon like a cold shower, snapping him back to reality. His mind was racing, unclouded, now clearer than ever. He jumped up from the matrass and grinned determinedly. “Seventh floor.”

###### 

_”Sir_ , you are _honourable_ , are you not?”

“I most certainly am, but I have little time for the likes of you – you evil ones! Take a step back or suffer by the sharp end of my trusted friend.”

Jin sighed as Sir Cadogan, the knight in the portrait on a lonely landing on the seventh floor, poked his sword at him and Namjoon, who chuckled. “He’s amusing.”

“A-MU-SING?!” Cadogan bellowed at them while swinging the blade in his hand around fiercely, his plated armour clanking loudly with every movement. “Your death will serve as amusement to _me_ – oh oh ohhhh. You snakes think you can slither all around the place, but I, Sir Cadogan, will not fall for your devious tricks, no sir!”

There was another sigh from Jin, deeper this time. He pulled Namjoon away from the knight, who was still in attacking stance when they turned the corner and made their way through the corridor.

“I can’t believe that after _all_ this time, the portraits are still prejudiced against Slytherin House – the _portraits_ for fucks sake,” Jin was clearly annoyed by failed attempt to hear the portraits on the seventh floor out about the two missing girls. Multiple portraits had scolded them for wandering about – a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw, inquiring about the mystery of missing students; none of the paintings seemed to trust them, Sir Cadogan being the absolute worst of them all.

“Well, the portraits have seen a lot during their time at Hogwarts. Perhaps we need a Gryffindor with us,” Namjoon suggested, “this is _their_ floor after all. It won’t be weird for them to randomly walk around these parts after class,” to which Jin slowly nodded in agreement. “I think you might be right.”

They made their way towards the Gryffindor Tower, where they found several students standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady – the entrance of their common room, Jin and Namjoon both knew. 

“Patris amor—“

“HUSH!”

The two friends had halted right behind the group, after which one of the students had spotted them. She stared at them with eyes squinted. “They can’t know the password!”  
Murmurs erupted from within the group of Gryffindors, to which Jin rolled his eyes, Namjoon glancing at him with a grin curving around his lips, knowing his friend would humorously jump to their defence.

“Honestly,” the Slytherin told the youngsters, “do you really think _we_ want to be in _your_ common room? No, no – far too cosy and lively, I imagine. A snake like myself prefers the dark depths of the dungeons. Nicely cold and _miserable_ , just like my soul.”

Namjoon could not stop himself from bursting out in roaring laughter, bending over as he leaned himself up against the adjacent wall. He completely lost it when Jin finished his statement with a pathetically mocking hiss at the group before them, and had to wipe the tears from his eyes. In utter shock and offence, the young Gryffindors climbed through the hole behind the portrait as it swung open for them, and quickly ran away from the older students that were left behind in the corridor. 

“Well that was that,” Jin scoffed, shaking his head while turning himself to Namjoon, who was still laughing, “ _do_ you actually know any Gryffindors that you like. Or rather… like you?”

Jin waited patiently for his friend to return to his normal self, while the Fat Lady kept a watchful eye on them. The Slytherin, a little anxious at the piercing gaze of the portrait, pulled his friend away from it and further back into the corridor. When Namjoon was finally done laughing he shook his head while rubbing into his eyes with his fingers. “Just Dahlia to be honest, but—“ 

“You know Dahlia?”

The question came from behind them and the both of them turned around to find a blond Gryffindor, younger than themselves, standing in the corridor with them, joined by two other boys; a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin. Jin carefully observed the latter from top to bottom. The young Slytherin took a tiny step back, hiding behind the Hufflepuff who turned his head to him in confusion.

“Don’t I know you?” Jin asked the boy, convinced he knew him from more than just in passing in the dungeon common room. Then it hit him and he grinned. “Ah—yes, Yoongi’s boy. Jungkook, was it?”

“I’m not Yoongi’s boy! I’m just… a boy,” Jungkook exclaimed, clearly offended by the label put on him by the older Slytherin. Jin waved his hand up in the air, like a dismissal of sorts, with the mocking grin still on his lips. “Sure, whatever. You mentioned Dahlia?” he turned himself to the blond that was standing in the front, who nodded.

“Oh, you’re Gryffindor Seeker, Kim Taehyung,” Namjoon suddenly said, reaching a hand out to the Gryffindor, who respectfully shook it with a firm grip. “My name is Namjoon, I’m a friend of Dahlia. Well… we’re friendly with each other.”

Taehyung chuckled while putting his hands to his sides, eyeing Namjoon up and down with a nod. “Yeah I know who you are. You’re the guy who keeps bugging us about Quidditch tactics. Dahlia’s very fond of you.”

The information surprised Namjoon as well as Jin. “Really?” they both chimed in sync, followed by a snicker. 

“Really,” Taehyung told the two of them, then pointing to the Hufflepuff beside him, “this is Jimin, and our other friend you already seem to know.” Jungkook pulled himself behind Jimin even further, now only one eye, which he did not break away from Jin, and the side of his hair and robes still visible. 

“Excellent,” Namjoon nodded and wasted no time, “Taehyung we need your help. We’re investigating the mystery of the missing students, but none of the portraits on this floor will talk to us. Think you can persuade them?”

The Gryffindor seemed to be taken aback by the sudden request, and exchanged glances with Jimin and Jungkook next to him, who merely stared at him with big eyes.  
“Uhm,” Taehyung hesitated, “I guess I could, yeah. What are you trying to find out?”

Both Jin and Namjoon smiled, relieved at how easy it had been to find someone to help them out. “Both the missing Ravenclaw girl and the Slytherin girl were spotted on the seventh floor right before their disappearance. We’re trying to find out if any of the portraits saw them.”

Taehyung nodded, casting his eyes to the floor with a frown. “I think,” he slowly said while pondering, “we should start with the Fat Lady.”  
The group paced through the hallway to where the Fat Lady was, who raised her eyebrows at the sight of them. 

“Back so soon?” she quipped at Namjoon and Jin, but it was Taehyung who spoke to her instead. “Did you see any of the missing students roaming about the seventh floor before their disappearance?”

The Fat Lady sighed in annoyance, taking a sip from her teacup. “Not even a hello. I swear, these students keep getting ruder every year. How long have I been here? Longer than any of you, but I don’t get a grain of respect most of the time.” 

_”Please,”_ Jimin suddenly begged from behind Taehyung, “please, it’s really important. We’re trying to find them.” Namjoon had not expected it possible, but the lady in the portrait raised her eyebrows even higher. “It’s always important, isn’t it? Have faith in your Professors, children, they’re on the case. What is important is that you do not end up going missing yourself! Honestly, that Slytherin girl should have known better, roaming around on her own. I told her—I _told_ her things would go wrong when she went asking around about the Bloody Baron and—“ 

Jimin gasped and all the boys exchanged glances with each other. The Fat Lady took a deep breath and moaned. “You think I’d learned. After all that nonsense so long ago— you’d think I’d learned to keep my dumb mouth shut.”

“Thank you!” Taehyung and Jimin chimed in sync, and all of them turned on their heels and paced through the hallway. The Gryffindor, who was running at the front, turned his head to the others. “Where can we find the Bloody Baron?”  
It only took Namjoon and Jin a split second to answer. “Astronomy Tower.”

###### 

“M-Mister….Blo….Bloody,” Jungkook heaved, completely out of breath, as all of them finally reached the top of the staircase. The Bloody Baron snapped his head in the direction of the boys, and Namjoon pushed the youngest aside, approaching the ghost who was floating near some of the telescopes used during classes. “Let me do the talking,” the Ravenclaw whispered at the Slytherin.

“This tower is out of bounds for students outside of classes,” the Baron told them, his voice monotonously emotionless, yet incredibly intimidating. Namjoon respectfully bowed his head at the ghost.  
“Yes, sir, we know that and humbly apologise. However, it was absolutely dire that we would come talk to you.” As the Baron shifted, the sound of his chains bounced off the walls and rang in the students’ ears unpleasantly. Jimin and Taehyung had never seen the Baron up close, and now finally understood how he had gotten his name, gaping in awe at the glistening stains of silver blood splattered all over his nearly transparent robes.

“There is no reason for us to talk,” The Bloody Baron told Namjoon, “now leave.” Jin stepped forward, not in any way willing to drop the case. “You talked to the Slytherin girl right before her disappearance,” he stated rather than asked, to which the Baron gazed at him with a completely blank expression. Everyone anxiously awaited the answer of the ghost, as he merely levitated in mid-air in silence, his eyes locked on Jin.

“No,” he finally stated. “I do not talk to students, nor do I wish to talk to you. Now leave.”  
Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook exchanged confused looks with each other, while Namjoon stepped away and pulled Jin with him down the stairs of the Astronomy Tower. The three younger ones quickly following behind them.

When they reached the bottom, Namjoon turned around to find three sets of gleaming puppy-eyes staring at him. “Thanks for your help,” he told the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and young Slytherin, “unfortunately it didn’t lead us anywhere. As Head Boy I now have to ask you to immediately return to your common rooms until dinner.”  
A little taken aback by the sudden change of attitude of the older Ravenclaw, the three stared at him for a minute, wordless, but quickly went on their way when Jin gestured for them to leave.

“Back to the seventh,” Namjoon told his friend when the two of them were alone. Jin frowned at him. “What?”  
Namjoon took him by the arm and pulled him, yet again, through the hallways of the castle. Nearly everyone was in their common rooms, waiting to be picked up before dinner in the Great Hall, so most of the corridors were empty – as well as the entirety of the seventh floor.

“It makes sense,” Namjoon panted as they frantically paced over the carpet past several portraits they had tried to interview earlier. “I saw it before!” Jin did not understand a word of what his friend was saying, but just went with it, knowing it would definitely lead to something. When they finally stopped, Namjoon had halted them in front of a large, stone statue, and Namjoon pointed at it.

When Jin observed it, he noticed it was the Bloody Baron, unmistakably. Impressed by Namjoon’s thinking, he chuckled, and the both of them started looking around the stone. They took their time to scan every bit of the statue, tracing their hands over the hard surface, and even searching around it, but to no avail. Finally, they gave up and both of them sighed in disappointment. 

“Honestly,” Namjoon said while kicking the statue softly and staring at it angrily. “I thought you’d be useful!”

“Come on, Joonie. We can come back later. Let’s go eat,” Jin told his friend as glanced at the statue one last time, shaking his head at it in disapproval. Without thinking, they went into the other direction they had come in from, and Namjoon failed to shake his disappointment and frustration as they passed a somewhat odd tapestry and exited the seventh floor.


	6. Busted

###  **Chapter 6 - Busted**

What Salazar Slytherin had found so appealing about a dungeon hideout, Hoseok would never be able to understand. He was not particularly fond of the Slytherin common room, yet he found himself lying stretched out on one of the leather couches; his legs over the armrest and his head in Yoongi’s lap. 

It wasn’t necessarily the vibe or atmosphere in the room that made him feel uneasy; he was actually quite comfortable and had to admit that it was a lot warmer and cosier than it looked at first sight. He took a quick glance at the window, where one would normally expect to find open air or perhaps grass. Not in here, though. The dark, black depths of the lake stared back at him from behind the glass, and it sent a shiver down his spine. At night, nothing that resided within the lake could be seen, and Hoseok did not know if that was better or worse than having daylight brighten the water. Whatever was in the lake could stay in there, and he was perfectly fine with never making acquaintance with any of its’ residents.

Quickly, he averted his eyes from the window and glanced up, finding Yoongi still fully emerged in the contents of his book: _‘The Long-Term Damaging Effect of Spells, Hexes, And Curses on Internal Organs: A Collection of Research Papers’_. The Slytherin was mouthing silent words as he read them off the pages, his eyes flicking from side to side with intense speed, and it curved a smile around the Hufflepuff’s lips. 

Quiet chatter could be heard around the common room; some Slytherin sitting together in groups, a pair playing a game of chess in the back, and a few loners hunched over their homework in the chairs at the desks.

Hoseok wasn’t supposed to be out of his own common room, especially after dinner – there would be no guarantee he could get back safely on his own, but as prefect he figured he could still get away with it somehow; would he be even caught in the first place. Today had been bad, and without Zed the Hufflepuff common room just felt different – empty. Yoongi was the closest friend he had right now and that’s what he preferred to be to him: close. As close as possible, were it up to him.

Their attempts to find out more about Zed’s disappearance had hardly led to anything. They had been told he had been spotted on the staircase of the 7th floor the day before his disappearance, alone, but of course that did not tell them anything, except that Zed had a certain lack for the rules of this school – this wasn’t new information to Hoseok.

The Hufflepuff sighed loudly, grunting under his breath and Yoongi seemed to snap out of his concentration, raising an eyebrow at his friend while lowering his book slightly to look down at him. 

“Are you uncomfortable?” he asked while shifting his legs a little, his robes brushing up against Hoseok’s cheek. The Hufflepuff shook head while gazing at Yoongi past the pages. “Nah, just y’know… the usual. The whole staircase thing is all we have so far and that’s practically nothing.” 

“We should try to be pragmatic about this,” Yoongi told him, now closing the book and carelessly dropping it on the floor in front of him. The loud sound of the impact turned a few heads and Yoongi shrugged at his fellow Slytherin as they cast him deadly glances and rolled their eyes in annoyance. “Instead of mulling over old, useless information we should try to get new information. I’ll try to find Seokjin later, I haven’t spoken to him in a few days; maybe he knows something new that he’s willing to share with us.”

“Probably not,” Hoseok mumbled as he turned his head, burying half of his face into the black fabric with a sigh, staring at the other students in the common room. “Seokjin only shares his information if it’s useless.” 

_Were any of these people in the same position as he was right now? One of their friends missing? Maybe they should try to ask around..._

“That may be, but him and Namjoon _are_ on the case, which means that if they find all the missing students, they’re bound to find Zed as well. Besides, the two of them are the most intelligent, cheekiest fucks I’ve ever met, so I have faith in them.”

Hoseok frowned with the corner of his mouth working its’ way up into a mischievous grin. “Cheekier than me?” 

“Definitely.”

Immediately bolting upright at the answer the Hufflepuff crossed his arms while staring at his friend, who merely smirked at him in a way that Hoseok could only interpret as playful provocation. 

“Cheekier than Jungkook?”

Yoongi snorted. “Probably not.” He pressed his hand on his chest, where Hoseok knew he had tucked his notebook in the inside pocket of his robes.

“You still think he opened your notebook?” Hoseok asked him to which Yoongi pursed his lips. “Can’t be sure. The spell did not work as well as I had hoped, so I only know _someone_ touched it.”

A sudden light tap on Hoseok’s shoulder made him turn around, and he found a young Slytherin girl, much younger than him, staring at the both of them while tugging on the sleeve of her robes with a shy smile. “Err— sorry to bother you.” She spoke so softly they could only barely hear it, and Yoongi leaned in closer with raised eyebrows. “Can we do something for you, miss?”

The girl let out a nervous chuckle and her cheeks flushed bright red. “Uhm, well I just heard you talk about Zed and—“ She was not given the opportunity to finish her sentence as Hoseok jumped up from the couch and grabbed her by the shoulders, brusque as he enquired - far too eagerly: _“Do you know anything about Zed?!”_

“Damnit Hobi,” Yoongi grunted as he extended his arm and pulled on his friends’ robes, forcing him back down on the couch, “talk about coming on too strong. I thought you were the one with social skills.” There was an apologetic mumble from Hoseok as the Slytherin next to him turned to the girl, who seemed to recover from the initial shock of nearly being jumped on. “You were saying?” 

“I— y-yeah, I do know Zed,” she gulped, “he’s my cousin – two times removed. We never really saw each other, but since I started going to Hogwarts this year we started talking a lot more.”

“Oooh,” Hoseok snapped his fingers while trying to remember, “err— Laila, is it?” She nodded at him and smiled. “Yeah, and you’re Hobi. Zed told me you’re his best friend.”

Hoseok couldn’t help but smirk as from beside him Yoongi grunted in disapproval. It was true that Zed has been his best friend by default since their first year at Hogwarts, but was friendship out of mere nostalgia stronger than what he had with the Slytherin sitting beside him? He wasn’t entire sure, but nodded regardless. “That’s right.”

Laila fumbled her thumbs together and suddenly frowned deeply while staring at the floor for a minute, then took a seat on the couch next to Hoseok. The two older students eagerly waited through her silence, neither of them wanting to force her into talking.

“The week before he disappeared we talked about something – or rather, Zed told me about something hidden in the castle.”

Hoseok could feel his heart pound faster. “Hidden?” he repeated the words in a whisper and Laila nodded. “Apparently – years ago – there used to be a hidden room somewhere at Hogwarts.”

Yoongi pressed himself up against Hoseok’s back, his head hovering over his friend’s shoulder so he could look at Laila. “A hidden room with what purpose?” he asked. She shook her head. “I don’t know. All I know is that Zed had heard some people talk about it and wanted to investigate it. I guess he went out on his own to find it and… well, you know.”

“Yeah we know.”

Hoseok jumped up from the couch, throwing Yoongi backwards and leaving bewildered. “Thanks Laila,” The Hufflepuff said, “I’m going to see if anyone in my House knows about this.”

With that he disappeared out of sight of the two Slytherin who remained on the couch. Yoongi cast a quick appreciative smile Laila’s way before picking up his book from the floor and returning to his reading.

###### 

The soft touch of a finger being traced down his cheek and neck suddenly awoke him with a sharp gasp escaping from deep withing his throat, his eyes open wide and his hand immediately shooting towards the notebook in his robes. It was still there.

“Bad conscience?”

It was Seokjin, to no surprise, who Yoongi found sitting next to him, lazily, his arm extended over the back of the couch so his fingers could brush against Yoongi face. The younger Slytherin had always thought Seokjin looked far too _innocent_ for someone so witty and devious. It was probably his appearance that gave him the opportunity to be so devious in the first place; it was easy to mistaken the older Slytherin for completely harmless with a smile like his. Easy to underestimate him. Yoongi knew better, though.

“Definitely,” he grunted sleepily while positioning himself straight up on the couch, closing the book he still had open in his lap. There were no more students to be found in the common room and the fireplace had nearly died out, leaving the room quiet, empty, and dark; the afterglow of the flames still casting a last faint light. Yoongi took a deep breath while rubbing into his eyes, feeling a little dizzy as he did. It was probably late.

For a moment he stared at the boy beside him who was still fully dressed, who did not look like he had been in his dormitory yet – nor had he spent time in the common room, Yoongi knew. He had been here with Hoseok all night before he fell asleep and Seokjin had been nowhere to be seen.

“Say—” he started and a smile instantly flashed around Seokjin’s face as he exhaled loudly out his nose in amusement. “Yes, I’ve been roaming around. Had I not wanted you to know that I wouldn’t have awoken you in the first place.”

_Of course. Seokjin’s game, Seokjin’s rules. ___

__“What is it you need, then?”_ _

__“Hmm…”_ _

__There was a moment of silence where Seokjin pretended to think, eyes raised up at the ceiling and fingers on his chin. “Exchange of information?” he finally said. Yoongi couldn’t help but snort as he shook his head. There was no way to know for sure, but Seokjin had probably already heard about their run-in with Laila somehow. That or he was bluffing. Regardless, an _exchange_ of information surely meant he would be getting something in return._ _

__“Alright,” he told the older Slytherin, “you first, though.” Seokjin chuckled and nodded. “That’s fair.” Yoongi shifted on the leather to face the boy beside him, resting his elbow on the back of the couch where their arms met in a brief touch. Their eyes locked in an intense stare._ _

__“The missing Slytherin girl,” Seokjin softly started and Yoongi leaned in closer, now able to feel the older boy’s breath against his own skin. Unwilling to blink the younger fiercely maintained his gaze, not wanting to avert his eyes for even a split second just in case he would miss _something_ ; the slightest of hints within the depths of the older Slytherin’s irises. Perhaps they could secretly speak a thousand words in case the ones that came from between his devilish pink lips would have no meaning. Just in case._ _

__Seokjin smiled yet again – far too gentle and kind this time – before continuing._ _

_Oh how deceiving looks could be._

__“She inquired with the Fat Lady portrait about the Bloody Baron.”_ _

__Yoongi finally dared to blink again as the information was out. “The Bloody Baron?” Seokjin nodded slowly, leaning in even closer; so close the tips of their noses almost touched. The older cocked his head a little sideways, exhaling deeply. “Hmyes. Speaking to the actual spirit led us nowhere, though. There’s a statue of him on the seventh floor, but—“_ _

__“Seventh floor?” Yoongi whispered, finally breaking eye contact as his mind started racing and his eyes restlessly flickered from left to right and back._ _

“Yes, the seventh floor. Picking up fast, Yoongi, that’s what I like about you,” Seokjin replied in almost a purr. “ _However,_ ” he pressed on, “there’s nothing to find there. At least, _we_ couldn’t find anything.” There was a pause. “Perhaps you could,” he finally added in a whisper. 

__Yoongi knew that Seokjin could package any useless information in such a way that people would still gladly take it. If he wanted to he could probably even sell a rock for a diamond. It was Seokjin who gave Yoongi the information about Zed being seen on the staircase in the first place, and that had not lead them anywhere either… but still._ _

__Before Yoongi had the chance to say something, Seokjin already continued with smiling eyes. “Want to share what you learned today?”_ _

_So he did know. Bastard._

__“Do you know anything,” A glint of mad excitement surfaced in Seokjin’s eyes as Yoongi paused dramatically before finishing his sentence, “about a hidden room at Hogwarts?” For a mere fraction of a second the older Slytherin’s expression flickered, the smile wiping off his face. It, however, returned as quickly as it had gone and Yoongi was not entirely sure whether it had even happened at all. “No,” Seokjin told the younger. “Surely if such a room existed I would have known about it by now.”_ _

__There was a certain truth to that, Yoongi thought, but there could be things at Hogwarts that even Seokjin was not aware of. It was possible._ _

__However, he did not share the thought with the older, knowing Seokjin would probably laugh at the thought that something, _anything_ at Hogwarts would be unknown to him. It was true that he knew the castle like no other, knew all its’ secrets, hidden passageways, and all its’ people._ _

Still. _It was possible._

__Seokjin stretched his arms out and yawned while getting to his feet. “I’m calling it a night,” he told Yoongi, who remained motionless as he tried to arrange all of his thoughts. Half-way through the common room Seokjin turned on his heel, slowly, letting his eyes flicker over Yoongi from head to toe._ _

“Hmm oh yeah,” he hummed in such a sly tone of voice that it alarmed Yoongi. This was something Seokjin had been saving to say, for sure. “While investigating we ran into your… _plaything_." 

__Yoongi frowned. “My playth— wait, you mean Jungkook?” Seokjin nodded with one eyebrow raised, a devilish smirk lurking behind his faked casualty. “He was roaming around the seventh floor with two of his little friends.” Yoongi’s frown deepened and he chuckled under his breath. “But Kook doesn’t have any friends besides—“ as the words rolled off his tongue Yoongi was suddenly overcome with a sense of guilt._ _

_Had Jungkook made new friends? Had he been pushing him away while investigating with Hobi? And most of all, why did Yoongi feel so bad_ if _the younger had managed to make new friends? Surely that was a good thing. Yet he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Couldn’t help but feel jealous._

__Seokjin went on while slowly making his way to the stairs of his dormitory. “Two boys; a Gryffindor and a Hufflepuff. Quite cute, the three of them. On the case like that, I mean.”_ _

__And with that Seokjin disappeared out of sight, leaving Yoongi behind alone in the dark common room with his guilt, pressing a hand on the notebook in his robes as he thought of Jungkook._ _

###### 

__“Come on!”_ _

__Yoongi was being pulled through the corridor by his green and silver tie, bumping into several students who shrieked at him and Hoseok with _hey!_ ’s and _ugh! _’s. He cursed under his breath as they turned a corner and he slammed his shoulder into the wall. “Fuck! Are you serious?! You don’t have to drag me by my tie like some beast.”___ _

____Hoseok sighed as he let go of Yoongi’s tie and stopped in the middle of the corridor, a few younger students around them darted out of their way as if the air around them was poisonous._ _ _ _

____“No offence, but you’re incredibly slow,” the Hufflepuff told his friend, who stared at him in disbelief. “Offence taken,” he countered, “I’m always where I want to be and when I want to be there.”_ _ _ _

____“That’s the whole point. Right now, _I_ want to be on the seventh floor investigating that stupid statue.” Hoseok grabbed Yoongi by the robes this time and continued dragging him towards the staircase. _ _ _ _

____“F-Fucking Hobi! Seokjin already said there was nothing to be found there,” Yoongi huffed. Hoseok did not answer, but determinedly and stubbornly led the both of them up the staircase and to the seventh floor. After taking several turns which lead them into corridors filled with paintings, lit torches, and closed doors, they finally stopped._ _ _ _

____“We should be close,” Hoseok whispered while glancing around, his fist still clenched into the fabric of Yoongi’s attire. The Slytherin tried to swat his hand away, without result, and found himself being dragged further into the corridor, coming to an abrupt halt just before turning a corner._ _ _ _

____Hushed voices sounded from the other side of the wall and Hoseok held up his hand as a gesture to remain quiet and listen. The first two voices were unfamiliar to the both of them._ _ _ _

____“—been here for half an hour, Tae. I’m hungry!”_ _ _ _

____“Jiminie, all the clues lead us here. If it wasn’t the Bloody Baron himself it would make sense that it’s this statue.”_ _ _ _

____The third voice, however, _was_ familiar._ _ _ _

____“We can always come back later?”_ _ _ _

____Hoseok and Yoongi stared at each other for a moment with widened eyes before simultaneously jumping around the corner – there being no need for the Hufflepuff to drag his friend with him this time._ _ _ _

____The two were faced with another pair of students, of which the smaller one gasped loudly at the sight of them. The taller, blond one had his hand on the Bloody Baron statue that Hoseok and Yoongi had been headed towards, and stared at the both of them in shock._ _ _ _

____“Err—uhh—“ was the only thing that came out of his mouth._ _ _ _

____“Hello,” Yoongi purred, letting his eyes wander around the area. There was, however, no trace of the boy he had believed to have heard mere seconds ago. It was just the four of them. Hoseok, him, a young, blond Gryffindor and a smaller, brunet Hufflepuff—_ _ _ _

_Wait._

____Something inside his head clicked, but he was not able to process it fast enough as Hoseok took a turn to speak. “Any interesting to find here?”_ _ _ _

____The Gryffindor quickly took his hand of the stone and casually waved it up in the air with a forced smile on his face. “Oh y-yeah, no just hanging out. Chilling. Just the two of us. Yup, just Jimin and me.” The choice of words was unnatural, even for someone who was simply nervous, and Yoongi squinted his eyes at the two boys before him. The young Hufflepuff let out a deep sigh and Yoongi thought he noticed a hint of annoyance as he observed the both of them, slowly stepping forward towards the statue, not letting his eyes wander away from them._ _ _ _

____He could hear Hoseok also stepping forward behind him. “Jimin, is it?” he lilted and the younger Hufflepuff chuckled nervously in response. “I’ve seen you around in the common room. It’s a pleasure. And you are?”_ _ _ _

____Yoongi approached the statue and let his fingers glide over the surface as he carefully observed the reaction of the younger boys. He slowly stepped into the curve of the wall behind the stone Bloody Baron, his eyes now resting on the Gryffindor who cast a few nervous glances at Yoongi while trying his best to answer Hoseok’s question as casually as possible._ _ _ _

“I— my, uh. I’m Jimin…” his voice trembled as he spoke, his eyes slightly widening with every step Yoongi took, which resulted a smirk to curve around the Slytherin’s lips. Hoseok laughed. “I thought _he_ was Jimin.” 

“Oh— _oh_ yes! N-no I’m Taehyung.”

____“And what brings you here, Taehyung and Jimin?”_ _ _ _

____“This is our hangout!” Jimin answered eagerly, but both Hoseok and Yoongi were able to pierce right through the lie. “Really now?” Yoongi heard Hoseok hum in amusement._ _ _ _

As soon as the sole of his shoe hit the floor, Yoongi bumped into something in front of him with his knee, or rather – _nothing_. There was a gasp from both Jimin and Taehyung as something in the air started to flicker near the wall. 

____The light sound of something shattering and pieces of something that looked like glass disappearing into thin air before him, Yoongi suddenly stood face to face with a wide-eyed Jungkook, who was pressed up awkwardly against the wall._ _ _ _

____“H-Hey Yoongi.”_ _ _ _

____There was an excruciating moment of silence before all hell broke loose._ _ _ _

“YOU BRAT!” Yoongi roared and extended his arm to grab Jungkook’s robes. However, the younger darted out of the way, shattering the remaining reflective panels around him in the process. “YOU _DID_ TOUCH MY NOTEBOOK! YOU TOOK MY SPELLS!” he bellowed and stepped forward from behind the statue while reaching into his robes and pulling out his wand, pointing it at Jungkook who stumbled backwards into the corridor. 

“WHOA!” Taehyung yelled and he stepped between the two Slytherin. He was immediately supported by Jimin who joined him in barricading the way for Yoongi, whose eyes were flaming with pure anger. “Now, now,” Taehyung said amiably, betrayed by himself as he chuckled nervously and his breath hitched in his throat. “S-Surely you aren’t _that_ angry with Kook, are you?” He reached out to Yoongi and rested a hand on his shoulder, to which Hoseok groaned softly in the background. 

____Yoongi took one step forward, incensed. “I will hex you,” he hissed through his teeth. There was nothing more than that needed than for Taehyung to immediately back off, swallowing thickly as the countenance of the Slytherin before him read nothing but rage, his eyes gleaming with the wish for blood to be spilled, and Jungkook winced from behind his friends._ _ _ _

____Before things got the chance to get out of hand Hoseok stepped in, extending his arm in front of Yoongi. “C’mon,” was the only thing he said, but the Slytherin slowly lowered his wand, the muscles in his face twitching as he did. “You better get out of my face, Kook,” he scoffed._ _ _ _

____The younger Slytherin stared back at him, his brown eyes big and sad, slowly filling up with tears. Yoongi couldn’t stand it. Not now. He averted his eyes to Hoseok, who offered an apologetic smile._ _ _ _

____“Let’s go, Kook,” Jimin whispered next to them and the boys shifted from their spots; both Jimin and Taehyung pulling Jungkook with them by his arms. The young Slytherin cast one more desperate glance to Yoongi before disappearing behind the corner, out of sight._ _ _ _

____The two remained quiet as they stood by the Bloody Baron statue, Yoongi still with his wand in his hand. He stared at the black wood and bit into his bottom lip, filled with regret._ _ _ _

_He wouldn’t have hexed Jungkook, he would never. But the damage had surely already been done._

“Yoongi,” Hoseok softly said while trying to meet his friend’s gaze, “that was your Camouflage spell, wasn’t it?” The Slytherin just nodded. “You practiced that for _months_ without success, and even when you managed to cast it you could only summon two panels at the most!" 

_____Hoseok did not have to tell him. Yoongi knew. He knew very well that Jungkook had achieved in a matter of weeks what he had not been able to do at all over a much longer period of time._ _ _ _ _

____Slowly, he tucked his wand back inside his robe and shook his head. “Let’s just go.”_ _ _ _

____And as the two made their way back, in the opposite direction of where Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook had gone, past several paintings and a troll tapestry, Yoongi felt his rage slowly subside, making place for something else. A feeling so strong that it made his heart swell and he had to force back a smile with all of his might. It was something he was not willing to admit to anyone – not even himself. Yet he could feel it in every limb, overpowering the anger he had felt with ease;_ _ _ _

____Pride._ _ _ _


	7. Closer

###  **Chapter 7 - Closer**

Thee boys, a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, all completely out of breath and with racing hearts, had raised quite some heads in the Gryffindor common room as they had stormed in, the blond one of the three pulling the other two with him up the 5th-year dormitory stairs. They were now sitting on his bed, the heavy, red curtains pulled tightly shut around the dark wooden frame.

It took Jimin great effort to speak as his throat was extremely dry and the heavy pounding of his heart was attacking him from the inside. “Y-You… K-Ko..ok I—“ he panted heavily, swallowing in order to try to recover his voice, “W-Were those… y-your friends?!” he finally managed to ask. Jungkook took in deep gulps of air, not daring to make eye contact with the Hufflepuff on his right, not the Gryffindor on his left.

He was not sure how to answer the question. Were Yoongi and Hobi still his friends after what he had done? Especially now that they found out about it. Jungkook had known Yoongi would be angry; pissed off even… but threatening them?

The three slowly regained themselves and their breathing returned to normal. After their encounter with the two older students they had ran to the Gryffindor Tower as fast as they could – the Fat Lady not being pleased at all with Taehyung _screaming_ the password in her face. None of them had dared to look back to see if anyone followed them, not after the older Slytherin had been so close to hex them.

Jungkook let his eyes flicker over the red and gold bedding and the two other boys on it. He finally found the courage to look them in the eyes; both pairs were fixated on him, big with anticipation and an afterglow of their shock.

This was the first time Jungkook had made friends his own age; people that liked him for who he was. How was he supposed to tell him what he had done? That he had stolen Yoongi’s spells was one thing, but now he had dragged Jimin and Taehyung into it as well. Soon things would go back to how they were before. Yoongi and Hobi now surely hated him, and Jimin and Taehyung would follow. Jungkook would have no friends left.

For a brief moment he considered lying; bluffing his way out. However, his own body turned against him when he felt his eyes well up with tears and his lips tremble. He would not be able to talk his way out of this, and somehow he did not want to either.

Jungkook took a deep breath, averting his eyes from his friends. “That were Yoongi and Hobi,” he said. “Yoongi is the one who invented the spells I’ve been casting.” He paused and nervously bit his bottom lip as an attempt to push back the tears. “I took them without him knowing. I wasn’t supposed to.”

“Wha— seriously?!” Jimin exclaimed loudly, which made the young Slytherin feel even worse. “You didn’t tell us that!” Taehyung and Jimin exchanged glances, baffled by the revelation. Jimin raised his eyebrows and let air escape through his teeth while he softly shook his head. “Kook, that was wrong,” he told the Slytherin, who hung his head low in defeat and shame, “you shouldn’t have.”

Of course Jungkook knew that what he had done was wrong, even if his intentions had not been ill. Or had they been? He was not sure anymore now that it had come this far.

“And from someone like Yoongi too!” Jimin added in disbelief, both Taehyung and Jungkook now looking up at him. The Hufflepuff’s expression was serious and he hunched over to the other two, as if he was about to share something extremely secret. “He’s really scary,” he whispered and Taehyung nodded in agreement. “Definitely. Do you think he would have really hexed us?” The both of them now turned to Jungkook, expecting an answer from him as he was the one who knew Yoongi best.

The truth was that Jungkook was not entirely sure himself. He wanted to tell them _no_ , but… His mind wandered back to the pages of Yoongi’s notebook.

_Tested with Imperius-curse._

It sent a shiver down his spine as it had done many times before. Sometimes it would come back to him; when he was in bed, at dinner, during class. The memory was always joined by a nauseating pit in his stomach he would not be able to shake for the rest of the day. He swallowed thickly as he felt a lump in his throat.

“I don’t know,” he admitted to the other two, and there was a tiny gasp from Jimin and a click of the tongue by Taehyung. “I could’ve taken him.” The Hufflepuff pinched him in his arm through his robes. “No you couldn’t have.”

“OW!”

“Oh shut up!”

As the two chuckled, Jungkook felt uneasy. How could they be joking about this? Jungkook had endangered them. There was a chuckle from Taehyung, who smirked as Jungkook looked up at him in surprise. “Well I guess Yoongi knows now.” Jimin snorted while leaning back against the frame of the bed, stretching his legs out over the matrass. “I’m pretty sure he does.”

Jungkook stared at the both of them in disbelief. “How can you be laughing?” His friends stared at him, the smiles slowly melting off their faces as they noticed the desperation on the younger’s face. Jungkook swallowed away his tears before continuing, trying his best not to let his overwhelming sadness and fear of losing his friends get the better of him. “I— I dragged the both of you into this. I’ve never seen Yoongi this angry, something could have happened to you.”

The bed shook as Taehyung suddenly shifted from his spot and came to sit next to Jungkook, circling an arm around him and pressing their heads together. “Such a sweet guy, caring about our safety.” It confused Jungkook. All of this confused him. Why weren’t they angry? Why weren’t they yelling at him? Telling him to go, just like Yoongi had?

Jimin laughed and joined the two of them, pressing himself against Jungkook on the other side. Unsure of how to feel or what to say, the youngest found himself in the middle of the loving embrace of his friends; the warmth of their bodies glowing against his skin and spreading through him. He smiled and could not hold his tears back any longer. Silently, they rolled over his cheeks, on his robes and the bedding.

From beside him, Jimin’s voice sounded soft and gentle in a whisper. “What you did was wrong, Kook. You should apologise to Yoongi.” Jungkook knew he was right, but how was he ever going to tell Yoongi he was sorry? Would he even listen to him? Would he hex him before he would even be able to say anything at all?

It was as if Taehyung had read his mind – or perhaps he was thinking about the same things. He leaned forward and found Jungkook’s watery eyes. The youngest sniffed and blinkingly stared at the Gryffindor, who smiled kindly. “Don’t worry, we’ll come with you if you want. We’ll protect you.” From the other side there was a _mhmm_ from Jimin, and Jungkook smiled.

“Besides, no matter what Jimin believes,” Taehyung added with a cheeky smirk, “I can definitely take Yoongi.”

###### 

Noise of all students gathered for dinner in the Great Hall seemed to be at an all time high, yet the world around Jungkook was awfully quiet. He could not concentrate on anything else than the awareness of Yoongi’s eyes on him as he was sat next to Taehyung and opposite from Jimin at the Gryffindor table. There was no eye contact with the other Slytherin, but Jungkook had only had to cast one brave (or foolish) glance at the other side of the room to know that Yoongi’s eyes had been and were still burned on him darkly; penetrating right through his soul.

Upon entering the Great Hall he had avoided the Slytherin table, circling around it and directly heading for the Gryffindor table where he had spotted his friends. Yoongi had been staring at him from the moment they were gathered in the common room, not breaking away even once the whole way to the Hall (Jungkook had known, because he occasionally glanced to the side, which he had then instantly regretted over and over again).

With his cheeks full of mashed potato, Taehyung tapped Jungkook on the shoulder, who snapped out of his trance of anxiety and flinched at the touch. “Mmmmwell?” the Gryffindor asked, to which Jungkook frowned. “Uhm…”

Jimin bent over the table to get closer to the other two, leaning on his forearm. “We want to ask Dahlia’s roommates for information. Maybe they know something, we hadn’t thought of that yet.”

“Ah,” Jungkook softly said, “yeah sure.” Jimin sighed, cocking his head to the side and biting on his bottom lips and he eyed the Slytherin up and down. “Oh Kook, it’ll be alright. All we can do for now is move on. Just image how proud Yoongi and Hobi would be of you if you found the missing students – still giving us _some_ of the credit, of course. We could be famous and you could promote his spells!”

Although the young Hufflepuff meant well, Jungkook could not help but think how awful that sounded. He did not want fame, nor did he think Yoongi would appreciate him promoting his spells or finding the missing students before him and Hobi. Nothing seemed right; Jungkook would never be able to mend his relationship with them, he was sure of it.

Tired of his constant state of fearing whatever was to come, Jungkook scraped his throat and straightened his back. “Alright, so what’s the plan?” Paired with a wide grin from both Jimin and Taehyung, the latter got up and beckoned for the others to follow him.

They came to a halt all the way at the other side of the Gryffindor table, and Jimin and Jungkook both stared at Taehyung who, a little rudely, stretched his arm out and planted his hand on the table.

“Laurileeeee,” he sang cheerfully and the girl nearest to him flinched and turned to look up at him in annoyance. “Do you always have to be so fucking hyper?!”  
_Well, this was bound to be a success_ Jungkook thought to himself as Taehyung pulled back in slight embarrassment. However, he found himself pleasantly surprised when a girl on the other side of the table directed herself towards her friend. “Be nice to Tae, Jadie” she said, to which the first girl sighed and rolled her eyes.

“You’re probably here to ask us about Dahlia, aren’t you?” Laurilee asked. Taehyung nodded, shifting a little awkwardly away from Jadie. Both Jungkook and Jimin instantly noticed a difference in his body language and tone of voice when he answered. “Uhm, yeah. Sorry if we’re a bother.”

“No, not at all,” Laurilee answered, to which Jadie mumbled something inaudible, which was probably for the best. The group ignored her and Laurilee continued. “Listen, the Professors have asked us about her disappearance over and over again. They’ve searched our room, the common room, classrooms; there was nothing to find.”

Jimin and Jungkook exchanged glances with each other as Taehyung nodded plaintively. “Okay, I understand,” he said while looking at anything but Laurilee and filling his cheeks with air, letting it escape again from between his lips, “sorry.” He turned on his heel and wanted to walk away, but Jungkook quickly grabbed him by his robes and pulled him back.

“Laurilee,” Jungkook said while hooking his arm into Taehyung’s so he couldn’t escape, “we’ve not told anyone this but,” he leaned in closer over the table beside Jadie (much to her dismay) and continued in a whisper, “we’re very close to finding the missing students.”

Jungkook caught Jimin’s frowning stare from behind Laurilee for a brief moment and then let his eyes wander back down to the girl, who stared at him intently. “Do you know anything,” the young Slytherin paused dramatically, “about the Secret Order at Hogwarts?”

Laurilee frowned and looked at Jadie in shock, then back to Jungkook. “I— no, I don’t think so,” she told him and Jungkook grimaced, letting go of Taehyung’s arm so he could lean in further over the table. “Hardly anyone does. If Dahlia was a member there would have been signs, but…” he stopped.

“What signs?” Jadie asked from beside him and he cast a quick glance at her. “It’s safer not to tell you in all honesty. We might put you in danger, even the Professors don’t know about this.” He pushed himself back up and looked at Jimin, who stood frozen in hit spot, baffled at what was happening. There was a chuckle he could only barely supress at the sight of the Hufflepuff, and he quickly turned back to Laurilee. “If you think of anything, please let us know,” then grabbed a confused Taehyung by his arm and stepped away from the girls.

“Wait!” came from behind as they were halfway back to their seats at the other side of the Gryffindor table, and Jungkook came to a halt, quickly hiding his smirk before he turned around. Laurilee had gotten to their side of the table and now stood facing Jungkook and Taehyung in the middle of the path in-between the House tables, her bag clutched in her hands.

For a moment she nervously glanced around, then opened her bag and reached inside of it, pulling out a red notebook. She stared at it and sighed, then handed it to Taehyung who hesitantly took it from her. Jimin came pacing towards them, having circled around the table himself.

“We found her diary before the Professors searched through her stuff. We figured we would find something in there that would lead to something, but… well it hasn’t. If you’re really serious about being close to solving all of this then you might find some clues in there,” she told the three of them. “Just… there’s a lot of personal stuff in there, so I don’t like doing this.”

“I don’t like it either, Laurilee,” Jungkook told her while gently putting a hand on her shoulder, “but it’s a necessary evil. Thank you.”

###### 

“I can’t believe you just lied straight to her face like that.”

“Same. You were really believable and it scares me.”

“Don’t ever do that to us, Kook!”

“Don’t you dare. I will let Yoongi loose on you.”

Jungkook raised his eyebrows at Taehyung who clenched his teeth together while scrunching his nose. “Too soon?” The Slytherin merely shook his head and focused back on the diary, which laid out before them as they were hunched over it on Taehyung’s bed in the Gryffindor Tower.

None of Taehyung’s roommates had gone to bed yet, which meant they had not yet discovered the stray Slytherin and Hufflepuff out of bed against the rules. Jimin had objected to sneaking out of their own Houses after curfew, but had agreed to it after Taehyung had declared Jungkook and him would then come join him in the Hufflepuff common room, which he had liked even less (some of his peers having scolded him after spotting Taehyung in their common room _again_ ).

Jungkook had made use of Yoongi’s camouflage spell (feeling significantly guiltier this time) and had picked Jimin up from the cellar, the both of them in their pyjamas. They had only barely managed to fit inside the space inside the reflective panels, but managed to make it to the seventh floor without being seen. Taehyung had picked them up at the Fat Lady’s portrait and had led them through the common room, excessively waving his arms at the people around him while dancing and singing loudly so everyone ducked aside.

Now they sat, curtains closed, staring at the diary. It was getting darker with each passing minute and they had not managed to find anything useful so far, only entries about Dahlia’s daily life, her family, friends, and her love for Quidditch.

“Lumos,” Jimin whispered and hovered the glowing tip of his wand over the parchment. Thankfully, Dahlia’s handwriting was quite easy to read, which made searching for clues a little less bad.

Jungkook turned the page as the other two hummed to let him know they were done reading the entry. He let his eyes flicker over the words, making sure to read every one of them carefully in case there were clues hidden somewhere between the lines.

_Quidditch practice was hell today. I seriously don’t know what was up with Taehyung, but he was being awfully annoying._

Jungkook glanced up from the diary at Taehyung, who stared at the page and swallowed. They had known these were Dahlia most personal thoughts. Taehyung was a part of her life, so they had naturally discussed the probability of there being something in here about him. And here it was.

_He wouldn’t listen to anything I said, hardly paid attention to his position, and to top it off he ‘jokingly’ attempted to swing away a Bludger with his broom, which almost went very wrong. I swear, whenever Jimin comes to watch us practice it’s as if Taehyung is in a completely different world – he becomes such a show-off, like a desperate puppy in love._

There was a somewhat nervous chuckle from the Gryffindor as the three of them finished reading the entry almost simultaneously. “Oh yeah I remember that,” Taehyung casually recalled, “I was just messing around, really.”

Neither Jimin nor Jungkook said anything, knowing it would only make their friend feel more awkward than he already did, but the young Slytherin did not fail to notice the Hufflepuff pushing back a smile and twisting his fingers playfully through the strands of his hair as they resumed the task at hand.

Jungkook eagerly turned another page as they neared the date of Dahlia’s disappearance, only to find it completely blank. The three boys looked up at each other and sighed. “Well that was useless,” Jimin said while disappointedly letting himself fall back on the matrass, his head on the pillow. Taehyung did the same, stretching himself out next to the Hufflepuff with a groan.

However, the third did not join them in their defeat, but instead snatched Jimin’s lit up wand from beside him and shone the light back onto the paper. He had to squint his eyes to see it, but he recognised it clearly; there had been writing there once, but it had been wiped.

Jungkook recognised it because he had practiced Yoongi’s wiping and recovering spells, closely paying attention to the process and effect of both. He, for instance, now knew that whenever the ink was wiped from the paper, it would leave slight traces of the lettering. This looked the same – Dahlia must have wiped it somehow.

Quickly, he grabbed his wand from inside his pyjama pocket and pointed it at the diary. It would probably not work, but it was worth a shot. Yoongi’s recovery spell only worked within 12 hours of wiping the paper, but maybe that only applied to his _own_ spell. Jungkook took a deep breath and muttered the words he had learned so well by now.

“Deleri curasset.”

Immediately, both Taehyung and Jimin bolted upright, staring at Jungkook first, then the wand in his hand. “What are you doing?” Taehyung curiously asked while moving in closer, immediately followed by Jimin. Jungkook was disappointed to find the spell did nothing to the paper and glanced up with a grimace.

“Dahlia wiped an entry off the paper, I thought there would be a chance I could recover it,” the explained to his friends who just stared at him without saying a word. The three of them bent over the diary once more, their heads touching as they eyed the paper intently below them, hoping to spot a change.

“Try again,” Jimin whispered excitedly and Jungkook repeated the spell. All three boys held their breath in anticipation. Then, miraculously, little blots of black ink appeared on the parchment, and they could not help but gasp loudly. The Hufflepuff’s eyes doubled in size and he laughed. “This is amazing! Again!”

Jungkook was quick to oblige, but there was no change this time. “Oh man,” he groaned while shaking his wand as if it were to make a difference. Taehyung reached for his own wand as well, pointed it at the diary. “Jimin grab your wand, let’s do it together” he told the boy beside him.

Three wands were now touching the page and there was a moment of silence. Then, in unison, they said the words.

_”Deleri curasset.”_

Letters started to form as blank ink appeared out of nowhere and curled on the paper, and the three quickly pulled their wands back so they could read the words. However, when the flow of the ink stopped they could not make out the entire entry.

“Okay, we try again,” Taehyung stated, but the attempt that followed proved unsuccessful. The boys stared at the ink, a little disappointed. “We should try to make out what it says,” Jungkook proposed and his friends nodded.

_I ha.. a str…e drea. last night. I wa. .. front of . tapes...y … tu..ed .. … wall ….. it. The… was so..thing I w..ted; ..methin. .. bee. longing for. . w.lked past … … three times … a do.. appea… ..fore I …. .nter I woke u, … ..te. investi….g . foun. … that t..estry exists! . ..und it .. the … floor. It ..ght be nonsen.., … I plan to inves…. anyway._

“I had a … dream last night,” Jungkook slowly started while squinting his eyes at the letters, “front of tapes… wall… What the hell is a tapes?” Jimin and Taehyung both shrugged. “Been longing for,” Jimin read out, “walked past three times… I woke up… investigating found that t…estry exists!”

“Tapestry!” Taehyung suddenly yelled loudly, resulting in the other two to flinch. “What?!” Jimin asked him with wide eyes, and the Gryffindor nodded excitedly. “Put together tapes and estry… you get tapestry!”

“That actually makes sense!”

Filled with determination and nervous excitement building up in his stomach, Jungkook read the rest. “Found it … the … floor. It might be nonsense… I plan to investigate anyway,” he whispered, his mind racing. “Wait, so she… had a dream about a tapestry,” he started, Jimin building further on his sentence, “and then she found out it actually existed on a floor here at Hogwarts!”

“And she had been longing for something… and walked past something three times,” Taehyung added. “The tapestry? The wall? Could be either.”

Jimin groaned. “But we don’t know what floor it’s on!” The boys remained quiet for a minute, all lost in their own trails of thought. Then, Jungkook realised something. “Could it be the seventh floor?” he asked, “I mean… the other clues all led us to the seventh floor, everything might be connected.”

Taehyung slammed the diary shut and grinned. “There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there? Investigation time!”

“Wha—not right now, Tae!” Jimin sternly told him and he moaned, clearly displeased. “Ah, why not? We’re already on the seventh floor anyway.”

“If this is really it, it’s potentially very dangerous. We have to consider what the best move it. Even if it makes no difference, I’d rather go during the day.”

Jungkook found himself agreeing with the Hufflepuff; it was best to not rush into this, and somehow finding the tapestry during the day did seem like a better idea. He nodded at Jimin. “Good idea. Let’s just call it a night for now and investigate later.” Jimin seemed very pleased with that answer, and Taehyung incredibly disappointed, but there was no further objection from him.

Heaving his legs over the side of the bed Jungkook raised his wand, ready to summon the reflective panels, but he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced back to find Taehyung staring at him with big puppy eyes, Jimin doing the same from behind him.

“You’re leaving?” the Gryffindor asked sadly and Jungkook slowly lowered his wand. “Uhm… I— wasn’t I?” he asked, immensely confused. “I thought we were going to investigate some other time.”

“Well yeah,” Jimin said, “but it’s kind of late for you to still go back. Besides, the common room is still full of people, you might be seen.” The Slytherin nodded. “I guess… are you staying, Jimin?”

“Of course! We all fit in Tae’s bed. He always sleeps in my bed, so I figured it’s time for revenge.”

“Oh no,” Taehyung fake-cried out while lifting his hand to his forehead, closing his eyes while shaking his head from side to side dramatically, “not two cute guys in my bed. Anything but that! Please!” Jimin slapped him on the shoulder and the two of them laughed. As with many other things his friends did, this confused Jungkook. His friendship with these two was so different than anything he had shared with Yoongi and Hobi, but somehow it just felt right.

“Alright,” he said with a bright smile, “then I’ll stay.” He lunged himself back onto the matrass and crammed himself in the middle, lying down next to Jimin who seemed beyond happy as he laid down as well. The two of them looked at Taehyung, expecting him to join them, but the blond did not move. Jungkook saw he was in conflict about something as he frowned deeply, mouth opening and closing again.

“Uhm,” he finally said while fumbling with the blanket. “Can I lie in the middle? Y’know _just since it’s my bed and all._ ” The youngest shifted to the left with a chuckle. “Of course.” This seemed to instantly cheer Taehyung up, who shook the entire bed by letting himself fall in-between Jungkook and Jimin with a huge smile.

It was not until much later that night, Taehyung’s roommates all snoring in their own beds as well, that the three finally felt themselves getting tired. With whispered stories of their families, Quidditch, Taehyung getting Jimin in trouble, and Hogwarts, Jungkook sighed contently as he comfortably nuzzled his face into the shirt of Taehyung’s pyjamas from the side, the blond’s voice sounding soothing and deep from within the dark.

“—and I swear I told Jimin that one day I’d have my own dragon, but I found out they’re a lot of work. Need a lot of attention, y’know? Even more than dogs. Also a lot more aggressive.”

There was a soft and somewhat tired snort from the other side of the bed. “You’re ridiculous.” Jungkook smiled as he felt Taehyung’s chest rise and fall slowly with every breath. Somehow lying here with the two of them was not weird at all. It was like they had done it so many times before, and he secretly wished they would invite him again soon.

The matrass only barely fit all three of them, originally being designed to only provide space for one person, but they managed by pressing themselves closely up against each other. Jungkook had felt slightly uncomfortable with letting his body touch Taehyung’s so intimately, but had quickly gotten used to it as the Gryffindor seemed to have had no problem with pulling him in closely with one arm, while holding Jimin in the other.

He had never experienced intimacy like this. For a moment, he imaged him lying in Yoongi’s arms, while Hobi lay next to him on the other side, and he chuckled at the ridiculousness of the thought. _Imagine that._

Letting his mind wander as he took in the sounds of the long, deep breaths beside him, Jungkook suddenly turned on his other side, reaching for his wand on the floor. Taehyung groaned softly at the loss of warmth, but Jungkook quickly returned to his position, crossing his leg over Taehyung’s and raising his wand into the air.

“Cogitatio,” he whispered, determined the spell would work somehow, even though he had tried so many times before without success. And he was right. There were soft ripples of coloured light that streamed from the tip of his wand into the environment; light blue, green, pink, yellow, orange, red. As if on the rhythm of music, the ripples mixed together and formed pleasant streams that danced around in the air, reflecting against the ceiling and against the curtains.

“Whoa!”

All three of them marvelled at the beauty of the spell as they laid together under the blanket, warm and comfortable. Jungkook glanced to his side and noticed his friends’ eyes gleaming; in the light as well as with an innocent and endearing fascination. He could not help but smile at the sight of them, a sudden surge of affection pulling at his heart.

“Another one of Yoongi’s spells?”

Jungkook nodded at the Hufflepuff’s question as he lowered his wand and laid his arm to rest around Taehyung waist under the blanket where he found Jimin’s arm. “Mhm,” he hummed. “It didn’t work for me up until now. Yoongi could not properly make it work either.”

As the others sighed in amazement, Jungkook closed his eyes again. The touch of Jimin’s skin against his own as they both laid so closely against Taehyung convinced him of something. The reason why the spell had not worked for him before, nor for Yoongi. It was sad, really, but made sense. Not everything had to do with skill or ability. There was another factor that came into play when casting the spell.

Happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vminkook cuddles are the best cuddles <3


	8. Hidden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is almost over! Are you ready? I'm not ready.
> 
> It's currently 5:15AM as I'm uploading this - RIP me.
> 
> <3

****

###  **Chapter 8 - Hidden**

****

#### Afternoon

_Hogwarts; a History_

Useless.

_The Many Mysteries of the Wizarding World_

Useless.

_The Progression of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Under the Direction of Albus Dumbledore_

Useless.

The restricted section of the library was sure to offer him more information than all the books he had been scanning through up until now. He just needed something uncensored; unfiltered. Something that would confirm his suspicions. Of course he had only ever heard rumours, and rumours were all they were. Still, they had to have been born from some form of truth.

_Something real._

Seokjin let his eyes wander past the titles on the shelves while levitating _Darkest Magic of the 21st Century_ back to its place on the top shelf with a _swish_ and _flick_ of his wand. There were dozens of dusty, information-packed books about things that would normally pique his interest greatly, but he had no eye for them at the moment.

Ever since Yoongi had mentioned it in the common room, he had not been able to let it go. A hidden room at Hogwarts. He had heard about it before, but surely what _he_ was thinking of would not be possible. It _wasn’t_ possible. Still, he had to confirm.

G.

_Gellert Grindelwald; The Many Deceptions of a Dark Wizard_

_Giving in To the Temptations of a Siren; a Diary_

_Growing and Tending to Man-Eating Plants_

H.

_Harpies; The Many Benefits of the Consumption of their Flesh and Blood_

Seokjin grimaced at the title as he let his eyes rest upon it. Why would the school even have this? He shook his head in disapproval and moved on.

_Harbouring a Vampire; The Story of My Death and Rebirth_

_The Harmful Effects of Hippogriff Bone Marrow in Potions_

_The Harpsichord and Other Harmful Instruments; An Extensive Guide to Enchanting Musical Instruments to Cause Brain Damage_

_Harry Potter: The Dark Side of the Rebellion within Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

His heart skipped at beat and he pulled the last book off the shelf, opening it on the index page. Eagerly, he let his eyes flicker over the chapter titles, hoping to spot something related to what he was searching for. And there it was; right above _Chapter 11: Severus Snape, Treacherous Teacher_. Seokjin turned the pages hastily, letting his fingers glide over the rough paper and finally coming to a stop at Chapter 10.

This was it. 

It was real.

###### 

“Yo, Seokjin!”

“Sshh!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Yoongi opened his eyes to see Hoseok apologetically gesturing at the girl at the table in front of them, then at his fellow Slytherin who had appeared from in-between the bookcases. Upon observing him a little better as he took place at the table next to Hoseok, Yoongi was convinced he had never seen Seokjin more exhausted than he looked right now.

“Hey,” the older Slytherin said, “have you seen Namjoon around?” Yoongi closed his eyes again, keeping his head rested on his forearm on the table. The level of restlessness within both Hoseok and Yoongi had grown exponentially; The Hufflepuff losing sleep over what Laila had shared, the Slytherin over something else entirely. 

Where Yoongi would normally have sleepless nights over working on his spells, it was Jungkook that had kept him awake this time. He hated it. He hated that that boy had so much grip on him; so much power over how he felt. Added to that there was the fact that he was not even entirely sure _how_ he felt.

Anger had been his initial reaction, which was perfectly natural, Yoongi had told himself. Anyone in his position would have been angry. Perhaps he had not responded in the best possible way, but it was how it was right now. The truth was, no matter how much he had tried to ignore it, there was something in Jungkook he recognised; something of himself at that age. 

It was true he loved teasing the younger Slytherin; loved watching him choke on his words and turn bright red in embarrassment, but only because he was such a damn brat. Yoongi knew, because he had been too. And he, too, had been desperate for friendship in his previous years at Hogwarts, desperate for the approval of others; wanting to be liked. However, this was something he had let go of a long time ago. 

Not caring about such things ensured he could focus on his work. Not caring about things such as friendship was better for himself; better for his productivity.

Besides, he had Hobi. He wasn’t sure _how_ or _why_ , but he had Hobi. There was something about the Hufflepuff that sparked happiness inside of him. When Hobi was around he could not help but laugh at his jokes and be affected by his positive, bright energy. Yoongi was certainly not unhappy with who he was, but he often felt like with his best friend by his side, he was a better version of himself.

And he envied him.

This wasn’t something he was willing to admit very easily, and it sure as hell wasn’t something he had shared with Hobi, but yes, he envied him. Out of the two of them, Yoongi would always be the weird one. The unapproachable one. The one who always isolates himself. He had long let go of the desire to be popular or liked. Yet, a part of him hadn’t. Perhaps this was the reason he could not get himself to stay angry at Jungkook, but rather felt the urge to keep him as close as possible.

“I think I saw him studying in the Great Hall when I passed it earlier,” Hoseok replied to Seokjin’s question, staring at him with an intense, somewhat anxious gaze. “So have you found anything?”

The Slytherin folded his fingers into each other, raising an eyebrow at the Hufflepuff next to him. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Oh come on, Seokjin,” Hoseok sighed in frustration, “don’t insult our intelligence—“

“Please leave me out of this,” Yoongi mumbled, listening in on the conversation while snoozing on the table.

“Fine, don’t insult _my_ intelligence. I know you’re one of the smartest people at Hogwarts, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us is stupid. I know you’ve been looking into that hidden room in the restricted section.”

Seokjin’s mouth twitched, the sides almost curving up on a smirk, but he suppressed it, challenging Hoseok’s gaze instead. After a minute of silent staring, neither of them averting their eyes and the third of their party ignoring what was happening altogether, the older Slytherin decided to give in.

“Fine. Yes, I have been investigating, and I have found something – but it’s a long shot. Hogwarts has many secrets, and this is a well-kept one.”

Hoseok’s leg was now bouncing up and down anxiously, and it was clear from his tone of voice his restlessness and frustration was starting to get the better of him. “Seokjin. I like you, I really do, but stop speaking in fucking riddles.”

If there was anything the Slytherin was not used to, it was disrespect. Almost everyone that knew Seokjin knew that keeping him as a friend rather than an enemy was always the better option. Still, the older was somehow not as bothered by it as he was taken by surprise. He merely stared at the Hufflepuff next to him, curiously observing his body language. There was no doubt about it; Hoseok was reaching his breaking point.

“Listen, I know that you and Namjoon have you little… _competition_ , but one of my best friends is missing. I need you to understand what that means.”

“I understand.”

“Do you?”

Yoongi had now opened his eyes and straightened himself in his chair, staring at the two at the other side of the table. 

“I can share the information with you once I’ve confirmed it.”

Hoseok laughed darkly, shaking his head at Seokjin who seemed as calm as ever. Every muscle in his face seemed to be twitching; Yoongi had never seen his friend like this before, and was afraid things could escalate any minute, so he decided to step in.

“Listen, whatever you’ve found out, go investigate it and come back to us when you can,” he told Seokjin. The two now turned to him and Hoseok’s expression softened somewhat. “Just know this is important to us. Now let’s stop discussing the case in a public place like this, you’ll never know who’s lurking about.”

“Man, oh man,” Hoseok sighed while leaning back into his chair, “you need to let that go. Jungkook is _not_ secretly spying on everything you do. You’re beginning to sound paranoid.” 

“He stole my spells and used them, Hobi. We don’t know what that boy is capable of.”

Seokjin laughed and leaned in over the table. “He stole your spells? And made them work?”

Yoongi sank his teeth into his bottom lip, now also feeling annoyance boil up inside of him. “Yeah, it’s hilarious, isn’t it?”

“Guess you pushed him away a little too much, wouldn’t you say? Little Kookie running around with stolen spells, making new friends, investigating the case with them—”

“I seriously think it’s time to end this conversation,” Yoongi said, feeling like he would be no longer to contain his annoyance from turning into anger if Seokjin kept on talking. The older Slytherin smirked and waved his hand up in the air, theatrically as he always did. “Fine, fine,” he said while getting up out of his chair, “I’m off to find Namjoon anyway. Don’t get into any trouble, you two.”

Hoseok also got up from his seat. “I’m gonna try to find something fun to do. Wanna come?” Yoongi, however, shook his head. “Nah, I’m going to take a nap and then continue my work.”

“Suit yourself.”

The Hufflepuff turned on his heel and followed the path Seokjin had taken through the library just before to exit the room, not knowing that someone else was right behind him, taking that same path.

Jungkook was careful not to touch anything or anyone, trailing very closely behind Hoseok to ensure there would be no people in his way to accidentally bump into. With his wand he pulled the reflective panels as close to his body as he could, almost pressing them flat against himself. Soon, the both of them stepped outside into the corridor where Hoseok took a left turn. The young Slytherin, however, had his eye on Seokjin who was standing a little further on his right, talking to a Ravenclaw girl.

Hiding in the library had not been easy, and Jungkook had not enjoyed it much either. Spying on his friends – or well… Yoongi and Hoseok who _used_ to be his friends, did not particularly make him feel great, but he knew that if Taehyung, Jimin, and himself ever wanted to have a shot at solving this mystery, they would need more pieces of the puzzle. And the best way to collect those was to get them from the others.

There was something Seokjin was not telling Yoongi and Hoseok, and Jungkook would find out what that was. If there would be anyone the older Slytherin would share his information with, it would be Namjoon. Jungkook quietly approached him and the Ravenclaw girl and caught the last part of the conversation.

“—thanks, Seokjin. He’s in the Great Hall.”

“Thank you.”

With that, the Slytherin started walking and Jungkook made sure to maintain a safe distance as he followed him through the corridor towards the Great Hall. 

“Why do I always feel like this table is _dirtier_ than ours?” Seokjin said while taking place at the Ravenclaw table opposite from Namjoon, who had his nose pressed in one of his books. 

“Not possible. The House Elves do an equal amount of cleaning in an equal amount of time—“

“Okay, you’re not in the mood for jokes, I get it. What the hell’s up with everyone today?”

Namjoon tore his eyes away from the page and noticed Seokjin looked sincerely annoyed, which was very rare. He put down his book and took a sip of his pumpkin juice before taking time to answer. “Sorry, I just heard I got an Acceptable for my extra-credit Potion essay.”

“An _Acceptable?_ Are you shitting me?”

“Nope. I’m telling you, Jin, this whole situation is getting on my nerves.”

Seokjin let out a chuckle under his breath, taking the pumpkin juice from Namjoon. “Yeah, you’re not the only one. Hoseok and Yoongi don’t look particularly happy either.” He took an enormous gulp from the juice, almost spitting it out as soon as it touched his tongue. Namjoon smiled awkwardly as Seokjin just about managed to swallow the liquid down, having spilled some of it on his robes.

“ _Did you spike this?!_ ” Seokjin hissed under his breath. Namjoon shrugged and took a deep breath before responding. “I may have cut myself some slack, yes.” Quickly regaining himself, Seokjin shoved the cup away from him towards his friend and started to laugh. “Y-You fucking idiot.”

Jungkook watched the two older students at the table, wondering if his sneaking around would still amount to something useful. After having hid in the library after classes had ended for over an hour, hoping to hear something - _anything_ useful related to the information he had found together with Taehyung and Jimin, he was not starting to get sick of it.

Somehow, Yoongi had known. Well he hadn’t _known_ , but had suspected Jungkook spying on them, and that made the younger feel even worse. He just wanted this all to be over; all the missing students found, and have Yoongi and Hoseok back as friends too. Perhaps that was too much to ask for. All he wanted to do was leave and crawl into bed. Yet, he had come so far; he couldn’t stop now. He had not other choice but to stay close to Seokjin and Namjoon and wait.

Thankfully, the wait did not take long. After a few minutes, the banter stopped and Seokjin scraped his throat, suddenly pulling a small book out of his robes and handing it to Namjoon, who took it from him with a frown. 

“Chapter 10,” Seokjin told him, and Namjoon started to flip through the pages. Jungkook panicked and wondered whether he should to walk around the table to see the contents of the book for himself, or wait and listen what the Ravenclaw was going to say.

In the moment of pressure, Jungkook could only stand still, frozen in his spot about a meter away from where the other two sat. Namjoon’s fingers finally came to a halt and he stared at the book for a few seconds, then glanced up at his friend with squinted, questioning eyes.

“No that’s not possible.”

Jungkook felt his heart pound faster and he wanted to move in closer, but knew it was too risky. He wanted to rip the book from Namjoon’s hands and see what he was talking about; the anticipation was so high he could barely contain himself. Would it be worth being exposed over?

Seokjin smiled and nodded. “That’s what I thought, but—”

“Jin,” Namjoon said while staring at the Slytherin, confusion pulling at his brow, “it was destroyed years ago. It’s just not possi—“

“It’s the best we’ve got right now. Everything points to the seventh floor, Joonie.”

It was getting harder with the second for Jungkook to keep his breathing under control, his head spinning with excitement and panic at the same time.

_What was on the seventh floor? What had been destroyed years ago? If they could just say it out loud or he could look at the page…_

His hopes shattered when Namjoon closed the book and returned it to Seokjin, who carefully shoved it back into the inside pocket of his robes. The Slytherin smiled. “We find out tonight. Right after count we meet in the corridor behind the Bloody Baron statue, that’s where it’s supposed to be.”

At that, Jungkook knew this was all the information he needed to hear. Quickly, he turned around and started running; out of the Great Hall and towards the staircases.

_After count in the corridor behind the Bloody Baron statue on the seventh floor._

While making his way to the Gryffindor Tower he repeated the words to himself, too afraid he would forget them somehow. 

The Fat Lady shrieked as Jungkook waved his wand at let the reflective panels disappear into thin air, and he appeared right in front of her. “Don’t you scare me like that, boy!” she snapped at him while eyeing him from head to toe. “And may I ask what it even is you’re doing here? Surely a Slytherin has nothing to find in the Gryffindor Towe—“

“Arcanum Ostium!”

“How did you get the password?!” she yelled. “I _will_ be informing the Headmast—“

“ _Arcanum Ostium, damn it!_ ” Jungkook repeated much angrier, having no time for the portrait’s attempts to obstruct him from entering. Her face read pure fury as she swung open for him, and Jungkook climbed through the hole and made his way to the common room.

He had clearly not thought this through, and he found himself at the centre of attention as soon as he entered. All eyes were turned on him as his green and silver tie and snake badge popped out between all the red and gold. 

“Ehh…” Jungkook awkwardly stopped in the middle of the room and glanced around, soon realising there was not a single person he knew. Then, a familiar voice came from behind a group of students on the right.

“Kook?”

The young Slytherin sighed with relief and smiled. “Tae!” 

Taehyung politely nudged some people aside and approached his distressed Slytherin friend in the middle, pulling him aside and towards the couch near the fireplace, then turning back to the rest of the Gryffindors. “Alright people, it’s all fine – he’s with me.”

Slowly, everyone returned to their own business, some people still staring at the both of them in disapproval while shaking their heads. Taehyung pushed Jungkook down on the velvet red couch and took place next to him, circling his arm around the younger. 

“Kookieeeee,” he lilted while gifting Jungkook a wide smile. “Y’know – Since we said we were going to wait with the investigation, I honestly did not think we’d see you for a few days.”

Jungkook frowned, feeling a little uncomfortable. “What do you mean? N-No, you and Jimin are my friends! I mean… aren’t you?”

Taehyung’s smile broadened and he nodded. “Yes, of course we are. I just wanted to hear you say it, haha! It’s too late to get rid of us now, y’know, since you’ve slept in my bed and all. So what’s up?”

Confused at his friend’s words, Jungkook raised his eyebrows, but quickly shook it off, focusing on the matter at hand. “Tae,” he whispered, “it’s going to happen tonight.” 

“What is going to happen tonight?”

“I heard Seokjin and Namjoon talk about it. After count, in the corridor behind the Bloody Baron statue on the seventh floor. Meet me there. We’re going to find the missing students.”

It took a moment for the words to fully register, and Taehyung just stared at Jungkook. Then, he grinned and nodded determinedly, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

“I’ll inform Jiminie. Let’s finally end this.”

###### 

#### Evening

“Mr. Jung! Mr. Jung!”

Hoseok glanced up form his homework as he was sitting at one of the desks in the Hufflepuff common room. Professor Zalhammer came pacing towards him, his expression grave; his winkles – Hoseok had not thought it possible – even deeper than normally.

“Professor?” Hoseok asked as the man halted before him and nervously glanced around the room. 

“We wanted to come ask you, because— Well you are— Have you—“

“Professor, what is it?!”

Hoseok felt panic creeping up on him fast, gripping around his body tightly as he feared for the worst. 

“Min Yoongi is missing.”

“Wha—that’s not possible, I was with him a few hours ago!” Hoseok felt his cheeks burn up as he anxiously retraced his steps of that day. Yoongi and him were together for most of the day, parting their ways when—

“I might know where he is,” Hoseok said while realising where Yoongi and him had gone their separate ways that day; the library. He knew his best friend well enough to know that once he fell asleep, there was hardly anything that could wake him. If there was a chance – _any chance_ he would still be there…

“Let’s go, Mr. Jung.”

When Hoseok and Professor Zalhammer got to library, it seemed to be completely abandoned and consumed by darkness.

“Lumos.” 

Zalhammer let the tip of his wand glow up and shone it into the room. They made their way past the desks, chairs, and bookcases to the back of the room, where – down on the floor under his usual table – they found a sleeping Yoongi. Hoseok sighed deeply in relief and chuckled, while Zalhammer took place in one of the chairs, leaning forward while trying to steady his breathing. Hoseok approached Yoongi and planted a foot on his legs, shaking him back and forth violently.

“Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! Go fuck yourself!”

Hoseok could not help but laugh at the sight of his friend, who seemed highly displeased at being awoken. After a minute, Yoongi finally realised where he was and he bolted upright, glancing around the room, at Hoseok, and then at Zalhammer who was still sat in the chair, breathing heavily.

“What the… What’s going on?” he asked while getting up on his feet, stumbling sleepily. Hoseok sighed. “Detention, Min Yoongi. That’s what’s going on.”

“Oh I— eh,” Zalhammer stammered from the chair at the other table, leaning his elbows on his knees for support, “I don’t feel so good.” 

“Professor?”

Both Hoseok and Yoongi quickly approached Zalhammer. The man looked up, his head swaying from side to side. “Oh, boys,” he said, “I’m getting too old for this level of stress. Mr. Min, I am glad that you are safe, but you must realise I am absolutely furious with you. Oh—“

Zalhammer leaned over again, panting as he did. “Ah, Merlin’s beard.”

“Professor, please go and rest,” Hoseok told him while placing a hand on Zalhammer’s shoulder. “I’ll get Yoongi back to his common room.”

“Yes. Yes, I think that’s a good idea, Mr. Jung.”

After helping their Professor up and guiding him outside, Hoseok and Yoongi were left alone in the corridor in front of the library. The Hufflepuff turned to his friend. “You seriously worried me, Yoongi!”

“Mahh,” the Slytherin mumbled while rubbing his eyes, “no need. I’ll see you later, Hobi.” He took one step, but was pulled back by his robes.

“Err— I’m taking you to your common room, I promised the Professor. I am a _prefect_ after all.” 

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”

“Apparently you do, my sleepy snake-friend. Lumos.”

There was a loud sigh from Yoongi, which was really half a grunt, as he was pulled through the corridor by Hoseok (which had happened far too frequently lately, Yoongi thought to himself).

It was a struggle; making it to the dungeons with a grumpy Min Yoongi. There was no corner turned without the sound of deep sighs and grunts filling the air around them.

“I swear, stop being such a hard-ass. I seriously think people would like you a lot more if you’d just—“

As the two turned the final corner before the entrance of the Slytherin common room, Hoseok suddenly stopped talking, Yoongi quickly glancing into the nearly dark corridor to see what had caused him to finally shut his mouth.

It was Jungkook.

Jungkook stood in front of the common room entrance with his wand raised up into the air, a faint light pouring out of the tip, his mouth open and eyes quickly widening in shock at the sight of the other two.

The three of them stared at each other for a moment, wordlessly, Jungkook still with his wand in position, Hoseok still with Yoongi in his grip.

“Jungkook?!” The Hufflepuff sternly directed himself at the younger. It wasn’t much of a question, but the Slytherin knew he was busted, turning bright red under the light of his wand and swallowing nervously. “I was—“

“Cut the crap, Kook!” Hoseok yelled angrily. “Get back in your common room!” The sudden rage took both Jungkook and Yoongi by surprise; both Slytherin unsure about what to do as he pulled Yoongi further into the corridor towards the youngest of the three.

“I swear on Dumbledore’s spectacles, Kook, if you don’t fucking get back in there I _will_ use force.”

“Hobi, you don’t understand! Seokjin said—“

“SEOKJIN? WHAT DID SEOKJIN TELL YOU?!”

“Holy shit, Hobi,” Yoongi said while breaking free from his friend’s grip,“calm down!” Hoseok ignored his best friend and stepped closer towards the younger Slytherin. “WHAT DID SEOKJIN SAY?!”

“N-Nothing! Hobi, I have to get to the seventh floor!” 

Jungkook backed up slowly as Hoseok got closer to him, somehow seeming more threatening with every step he took. Yoongi felt has if his body was paralysed as he watched the scene unfold in front of him, staring at Jungkook’s frightened face as Hoseok extended his arm to grab onto his robes. 

Right as Yoongi wanted to step forward to defend Jungkook, the Hufflepuff about make contact with him, the youngest’ voice boomed through the corridor as he flicked his wand from the left to the right, then pointing it at himself in one swift motion.

“ _REPLICATIONE SUI!_ ”

Suddenly, there were ten– no, twenty, maybe even thirty Jungkooks in the corridor, all with their wands raised up in the air and their eyes on the Hufflepuff, who instantly froze, his arm still extended and hand open.

“What the—“ Hoseok whispered, and flinched as, suddenly, all the Jungkook’s started to move around; some running, some waving their arms around in the air, some running straight towards where he stood.

At the same time, Yoongi’s mouth dropped. He gaped at the chaos in awe and amazement, his pupils so large they were almost the size of his irises. Then, he started to laugh. He couldn’t stop it. In a way it was maniacal; insane, in another it was pure happiness. 

This was _his_ Hologram Hex. A spell he had failed to, even at this point, cast successfully – It was right in front of him, in all its’ glory.

“Hahaha… HAHAHAHA! Jungkook, you wonderful brat!”

Hoseok, on the other hand, turned to him in pure anger while one of the Jungkooks passed right through him, evaporating into thin air. “COME ON!” He started running after the many Jungkooks that had started making their way through the corridor towards the staircase; some of the holograms staying behind and waving at Yoongi with an innocent smile as he followed Hoseok’s lead and glanced back at them, not being able to refrain himself from waving back at them.

###### 

“This must be it,” Seokjin whispered while letting one hand glide over the rough fabric while he held his lit up wand up in the other. Namjoon stood next to him, nervously glancing around. “What are we going to say if they catch us out of bed?”

With a snort, the Slytherin turned to his friend who seemed to be distressed. “Don’t worry, Joonie. You’re Head Boy! We’ll just say I got lost and you came to find me. You’ll be a hero. Now…” Seokjin continued observing the wall. He had wondered to himself how they could not have realised it before. In the corridor behind the Bloody Baron statue on the seventh floor, there was a tapestry. Perhaps, at first sight, that was nothing worth looking twice at, but _this_ specific tapestry was special – or at least _marked_ something special. 

Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet. Seokjin never had paid much attention to it, but right now, it was the only thing he could think of – he was enchanted by it. This could be their entrance; their answer to the unsolved mystery. 

“All we have to do it figure how out to get inside and we—“

“WHOA!”

Seokjin’s trail of thought was interrupted by Namjoon’s sudden yell and the sound of footsteps; finding himself jumping at the sight of about a dozen Jungkooks running towards the two of them from within the dark. Quickly, he backed away from the troll tapestry, pulling his wand out of his robes and pointing it at the Jungkooks.

“HOLY SHIT!” he yelled, backing up faster and crashing into Namjoon, the both of them falling down to the floor. The Jungkooks, however, did not stop, and both the Slytherin and Ravenclaw closed their eyes in preparation of the collision – which never came.

When they opened their eyes, there was only one Jungkook left, who was panting heavily in the middle of the corridor with his wand in his hand, looking extremely distressed; his hair pointing in every direction and face flushed bright red.

“Jungkook, what—“ Seokjin began, but before he could finish his sentence they were joined by two others, who looked just about as distressed at the youngest before them did; perhaps even worse. Hoseok looked enraged as he ran up front into the corridor, followed by a wide-eyed Yoongi who gaped at the rest as he came to a halt right behind the Hufflepuff.

“Uhh—“

“What are you—“

“—doing here?!”

“—out of bed after hours!”

Jungkook nervously swallowed at turned half a circle, casting glances at the two on his right and the other two on his left who scrambled back to their feet, the youngest being trapped in the middle of the yelling. 

“Guys!” he hissed, “if we’re not quiet, we’ll all be caught out.” To this, Namjoon laughed sarcastically. “Ha! You _are_ already caught out. As Head Boy it is my duty to send you back to your common rooms – and you’re lucky enough I’m in a good mood, so if you go now there’ll be no detention.”

“Seriously, what do you think I was trying to do?!” Hoseok scoffed, clearly frustrated. From behind him, Yoongi snorted. “Seriously, though? You two just as much out of bed as we are – Head Boy or not, our Seokjin here certainly has no special privileges.”

“Well I—“

“Seriously, Jin,” Hoseok said, making his way past Jungkook, “cut the crap. You told Jungkook something, didn’t you? Something you didn’t want to tell us earlier today!”

Seokjin raised his eyebrows at the Hufflepuff. “Okay first of all, only Namjoon and my mother call me Jin—“

“Sad,” Yoongi chimed in.

“—and second of all, I did not tell that boy anything. Namjoon and I were alone at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall when we discussed our plans to come here. So unless he—“ Seokjin cut himself off mid-sentence, opening his mouth and letting his eyes wander from Hoseok to Jungkook, who guiltily averted his eyes from the older Slytherin. “Ooooh. You did, didn’t you? Of course you did. How else would you know we would be here?”

Hoseok turned around to look at Jungkook, who looked about as guilty as he could. “Wait, did what?!” The question made Yoongi laugh, and the Slytherin slowly walked forwards, halting right in front of Jungkook and leaning in so closely their faces almost touched; daring him to make eye contact. “Spy on them with my spell. Didn’t you, Kook?”

Jungkook recognised Yoongi’s tone of voice to be as teasing as ever and frowned slightly as he, with all of his might, avoided the older Slytherin’s eyes. Wasn’t he angry? 

“You don’t have to answer me,” Yoongi continued in the same tone of voice, making Jungkook flinch as he suddenly took his chin between his index finger in thumb, forcing him to look up and meet his gaze, “I know what you did.” Jungkook swallowed while staring into Yoongi’s dark eyes, surprised to not find a single hint of anger there. 

Seokjin laughed and Yoongi let go of Jungkook, the both of them turning their heads to the older Slytherin as he rubbed his hands together – Namjoon, who stood behind him, frozen in a state in-between shock and frustration, his mouth slightly open. 

“Shall we begin then?” the Slytherin said, to which Namjoon stepped forward. “No! This is seriously a no! You have to get back to your common rooms right now – I can’t be responsible for all of you.”

Both Yoongi and Jungkook were ready to object, but it was Hoseok who replied. “No way. You know something we don’t, and I’m not about to miss out on that. If there’s a chance to find Zed, I’m in on this and so is Yoongi!”

“Excellent,” Seokjin chuckled while turning himself back to the troll tapestry him and Namjoon had been investigating before the chaos. The Ravenclaw, however, was not done objecting just yet. “You _will_ get back to your common rooms, all three of y—“

_CRASH_

The sound of glass shattering loudly echoed through the corridor, making all the boys jump and turn their heads, only to find two newcomers, who seemed to have tripped and fallen over on top of each other just a few steps away from where the group stood, revealed by the shattering and disappearance of a set of reflective panels. 

“Ow, ow, Tae you’re too heavy!”

“Are you calling me fat?”

“I’m serious, get off – I’m too tiny for this.”

“You’re making me very self-conscious, Jiminie.”

The two untangled from their collision, rising to their feet with their hair wild and robes hanging lopsided. Both boys smiled widely at the others, Taehyung chuckling while patting down his robes. “We’re here!”

“Wha— _We’re here?!_ What do you mean ‘we’re here’?!” Namjoon shrieked, Seokjin now laughing harder than ever. 

“Well,” the Gryffindor sighed while stepping forward, “it means we are here like Jungkook told us to be, so…” The three older students instantly turned to Jungkook, who clenched his teeth together. “That was supposed to be a secret, Tae. As well as… Yoongi’s spell…”

Taehyung’s smile dropped and he glanced from a furious Namjoon to a deeply confused Hoseok, then to Jungkook, and finally to Yoongi who was… Taehyung was not entirely sure. Jimin slowly stepped forward and approached Yoongi, who eyed the young Hufflepuff as he came in closer.

“So _you_ are Yoongi. Jungkook says you’re a genius – actually I know you’re a genius! You look like one too; dark, mysterious, sleep-deprived, a bit grumpy—“

“Are you trying to be cute with me?” Yoongi grunted, and Jimin waved his hands around. “Oh, no, no! I mean I think I _am_ pretty cute, but I don’t think that’s what you meant, huh?” Jungkook felt every muscle in his body cramp up as he watched Jimin reach out to Yoongi and lightly pat him on the arm. The Slytherin’s response, however, took everyone by surprise.

With a sigh, Yoongi reached out to Jimin and pinched his cheeks. “So. Fucking. Cute,” he said while squeezing them between his fingers, the Hufflepuff squinting at the touch, stumbling on his feet. “Ow!” Yoongi let go of him and he immediately started working at rubbing the painful skin. “Since you’re Kook’s friends, I will work on letting this go. However, if you share my spells with _anyone_ else there will be serious, fucking consequences.”

Everyone stared at Yoongi for a brief moment, who shrugged and took a deep breath. “Okay so now what?” Jungkook felt a weight being lifted off him. Yoongi was certainly not happy, but at least he wasn’t angry – maybe everything could turn out alright after all. 

“Now—” Seokjin started, interrupted by Namjoon. “Now everyone goes to bed!” This time, the oldest Slytherin addressed his best friend. “You are seriously being such a pain in the ass! We’re all here; every clue has led us up to the seventh floor time and time again, and it all boils down to this specific place. You want to waste your time on tucking people in? Be my guest. The room is right on front of us, so if you don’t mind I’m going to focus on that.”

“The room!” Hoseok exclaimed, now also approaching the tapestry and letting his hand glide over it. “So it’s real?”

“Yes, it’s real. We just don’t have any idea how to actually get in.”

“Jin, we seriously can’t be responsible for—“

“Heck with responsibility! We’re all old enough to be responsible for ourselves, at least,” Seokjin glanced at Jungkook and smiled deviously, “almost all of us.” 

Jungkook felt the urge to protest, but knew it would be useless; Seokjin was only trying to wind him up after all. Suddenly, he felt a tug at his robes and found both Jimin and Taehyung staring at him with big eyes, sparkling in the light of their wands.

“Kook, the diary,” Jimin whispered and the blond nodded. Jungkook understood what they meant and glanced around the corridor. It would hardly make sense for the tapestry to turn into a door – that would be too obvious. His eyes rested upon the wall opposite from the piece of cloth; open and wide, no paintings hanging from it, and suspiciously unscathed. The young Slytherin nodded at his two friends, then at the wall.

“That must be it. Do you want to try, Tae?”

Taehyung nodded, then stepped towards the wall on the left side, then slowly started to walk to the other side.

_Something I long for…_

_I long to find the missing students._

One.

“What are you doing?”

Taehyung turned around and started making his way back.

_I long to find the missing students._

Two.

“Taehyung?”

One more time.

_I long to find the missing students._

Three.

_Swoosh._

Everyone’s eyes were turned to the wall now, where, exactly opposite from the Barmabas the Barmy tapestry, a large, wooden door had appeared. 

“This is it,” Seokjin whispered in awe, slowly approaching the door while observing it in fascination. “I can’t believe it’s still here!”

“Wait, you knew about the hidden room?” Yoongi asked, wondering to himself why he was still surprised Seokjin had not told him the truth before. 

“Of course I knew – well I had suspicions, but this room was supposedly destroyed years ago.”

All the other now stepped forward as well, even Namjoon not objecting anymore, but inspecting the door instead. Taehyung placed his hand on the wood and flinched, instantly pulling it back and rubbing his thumb over his palm. 

“It’s hot!”

“That’s interesting…” Seokjin whispered, more to himself rather than any of the others. “Going in won’t be without risk, but I’m definitely going.” He turned to the Ravenclaw next to him. “I’m taking you with me for protection – you know I don’t do well in the field.” Namjoon whistled through his teeth. “I suppose this is where my well-meant attempts to stop everyone end.”

“I am definitely going in,” Hoseok stated solemnly while letting his hand hover in front of the wood to feel the warmth, then looking at the oldest Slytherin. “Zed might be in there, so I’m going.” Yoongi took a deep breath and nodded. “Guess I’m coming too, then.”

“Us too.”

With that, the youngest three of the group were ready to go; their wands out and raised up in the air. Seokjin tutted at the sight of them, letting his eyes rest upon Jungkook. “Taehyung and Jimin can come, sure, but I have to respect Yoongi’s wishes to exclude Jungkook from the investigation,” he paused and a teasing smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. “He’s just too young.”

Jungkook opened his mouth and wanted to yell, feeling like a bucket of ice-cold water had just been dumped on him. They couldn’t exclude him now; he helped to find the most essential clue – he was part of the reason they were where they were and—

“Jungkook is coming with us.”

The youngest glanced up and felt tears well up as he realised who had spoken. “Y-Yoongi?” he softly said, feeling slightly embarrassed at how pathetic he sounded, but at the same time simply not caring anymore. Yoongi looked at him and smiled. “We need him.”

Seokjin laughed. “Hahaha – oh, so glad this has finally been settled! Now let’s proceed, shall we?” He gingerly placed his hand on the handle of the door, which was, surprisingly, cool enough for him to grab onto it. Slowly, he pulled, which took him less force than he had expected, and with a creak the two wooden halves opened to the outside.

No one moved as the group stared inside, overcome by a mixture of amazement and horror – warm air blowing into their faces from within the room.

“Holy shit, Seokjin,” Hoseok whispered while letting his eyes take in the space before them, “what is this place?”

“This,” the Slytherin answered, setting foot inside and glancing at the others, “is the Room of Requirement.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like the story, please leave me a comment. It really helps motivate me <3


	9. What Was Left Behind (Part I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, 
> 
> I've been a little slow due to the fact I've been so busy. I still am really busy, but I didn't want to potentially keep you waiting so I decided to divide the last chapter into two parts, so I could upload one right now! It was originally going to be one really long finale, but it takes some pressure off me to do it this way.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

###  **Chapter 9 - What Was Left Behind (Part I)**

****

There was no doubt about it. If they would find the finding the missing students anywhere, it would be in here. The unmistakable smell of heavily burnt wood overwhelmed the seven as they stepped into the Room of Requirement – or at least, what seemed to be left of what it once was. It looked like they were inside of Hogwarts; of course they _were_ still in the castle, but none of them had ever seen anything like this space.

Torches on the walls on their left and right lit up the Room, which, as far as they could see – and that wasn’t very far – there was no end to. The ceiling was hanging much lower than any of them were used to, and the entire space seemed to be filled with giant, thick wooden pillars; black and rotting with clear traces of fire left behind on their surfaces as well as on the stone floor and ceiling. It was surprising how damaged pillars like these could even still be strong enough to hold the place up ( _were they?_ ), and not everyone was as eager to go in further.

“This looks dangerous,” Jimin said, halting in his tracks while the rest stepped forward and observed their new environment. Seokjin was the one to reply without glancing back, walking to the left instead, extending his arm out and tracing his fingers over the stone wall. 

“We all knew this would potentially be dangerous. If you would like to go back, go ahead. I doubt anyone will stop or blame you if you aren’t brave enough to press on.”

Jungkook looked back at Jimin and offered him an encouraging smile, which the older answered with a nervous one. He glanced back at the door through which they had entered, realising it would be just as easy for him to exit right now as they had entered. He could safely return to his common room. Who knew, maybe the door would be gone once they returned, so even if they _would_ find the missing students in here none of them would be able to go back into the castle. Maybe that’s how everyone had gone missing in the first place, and they would soon find the rotting corpses of their fellow students within the depths of the Room. The visual image that flashed through his mind sent a shiver down his spine, and when he snapped back to reality he found everyone but Seokjin staring at him.

“N-No that’s not it at all! I was just saying…” He swallowed. “We should be careful.” Taehyung nodded determinedly while the rest turned around again, returning to observing the pillars and staring further into the Room. There seemed to be nothing but darkness on the other side, but they knew it was the only way they could go. 

While Yoongi was letting his hand slide over one of the pillars, small chips of woods breaking off it and falling to the floor, Hoseok glanced over to where Seokjin stood. “Can you please explain to us _what_ this room is?” He asked, and the Slytherin turned around. All eyes were now on him; eager and questioning, waiting for him to speak. Lover of a dramatic story as he was, he was happy to oblige.

“There is a legend that many, many years ago, Hogwarts had a hidden room, which very few knew about: The Room of Requirement. They say even most of the Professors did not know of it, as it was one of the castle’s best kept secrets. The legend goes that the Room would offer help to those who needed or wished for something, supposedly showing itself in a different form to every individual, depending on what they longed for.” 

“Wait,” Jungkook said, “so the Room could give someone _anything_ they wanted?”

“Hmm,” Seokjin pondered on the question for a moment, “I’m not entirely sure. The Room, no matter how special it may be in itself, must have still been bound by the laws of magic; Transfiguration to be more specific.”

“Okay, I really don’t get what that means,” Taehyung said, and it was Namjoon who answered. “It means that you can’t create something out of nothing. So the Room would, in theory, not be able to provide food.”

“Makes sense, I suppose,” Yoongi mumbled. “Perhaps with a Conjuration spell, but then again; would such magic be able to pass through the barrier of a hidden room?”

Seokjin shook his head. “Can’t say for sure. It is really hard to find any information on the Room of Requirement these days, almost as if it’s a taboo. I had heard the rumour about the Room years ago from my father, who had searched for it during his years at Hogwarts, but without success. The only book I found that reports on this place was in the restricted section, because supposedly during the Battle of Hogwarts, the night Harry Potter defeated the dark wizard Voldemort, the Room was destroyed,” he paused dramatically, “by Fiendfyre.”

“Holy shit, _Fiendfyre?!_ ” Yoongi looked around in awe of the sight before him, which made a lot more sense now. “That’s some really dark magic.” He noticed that Hoseok next to him was trying hard to put the pieces together, frowning deeply as he stared at the two Slytherin. A few steps away from him, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook had the exact same expression on their faces. Yoongi explained: “Fiendfyre are bewitched flames, taking the form of giant beasts that destroy everything in their way. Supposedly, it can’t be extinguished by water either. There’s not a lot known about it, to be honest, but if it was indeed Fiendfyre, it’s a miracle the Room was even able to recover.”

“I’m surprised too – no, _amazed_ ,” Seokjin replied, “when you mentioned you had heard about a hidden room at Hogwarts, it was hard for me to believe there was a possibility of it being the Room of Requirement, but… here we all are. There is no doubt about that this space holds some extremely powerful magic. My guess is that the Fiendfyre did some heavy damage to it, but it managed to slowly recover itself over the years. Perhaps it was only strong enough again now to show itself to the students, but…” he exhaled deeply, “clearly _something_ went wrong.”

Jimin swallowed nervously, not wanting to be the one to say out loud what everything was already thinking, but doing so regardless. “Do you think there’s a chance they’re all still alive?” Every eye turned to him, no one having an honest answer to that question – or not wanting to give one. Namjoon eventually answered. “I suppose we won’t know for sure until we go further in and find them.” Although it wasn’t the answer Jimin had hoped for, he knew it was the only realistic one. He cast a quick glance back at the door and took a deep breath, realising that there was already no turning back for him. 

“I guess you’re right.”

“Excellent!” Seokjin said while pointing his wand forward. “Lumos.” The others did the same. Slowly, they stepped past the pillars while letting the light from their wands guide them. There was something eerie about the darkness in combination with the fact that, apart from the sound of their footsteps and breathing, there wasn’t a sound to be heard. That feeling got worse when they reached the edge of the room, the path continuing further down a pitch black, carpeted hallway. Seokjin pointed his wand down, letting the light shine on the red fabric below them and revealing a trail of ashes.

The oldest Slytherin turned to Namjoon. “Go on then.”

“Sorry, what?”

“You don’t seriously think I’m going to walk up front, do you? Besides, you’re Head Boy so that means you're supposed to protect us.” From behind Namjoon, Taehyung snorted, which fell in bad taste with the Ravenclaw. With a deadly glance at the Gryffindor, he grunted and stepped onto the carpet.

“Fine.”

They lined up behind Namjoon; Seokjin in second, behind him Hoseok and Yoongi, then Jungkook and Jimin, and Taehyung at the back of the group. The youngest Hufflepuff nervously glanced back at him.

“Be careful, Tae.”

“I’m always careful.”

With racing hearts, the seven stepped further into the hallway, not knowing what to look out for or what to expect in the slightest. The Room of Requirement, according to legend, had not held any danger to its visitors, but who knew what effect the Fiendfyre had had on it, years of abandonment added to that, and powerful, potentially damaged magic at the core of it all. 

The hallway was long, and the group walked for about ten minutes in complete silence before suddenly reaching a fork in their path; the hallway splitting into three other ones to their left, front, and right. 

“Great,” Jungkook groaned while shining his light into the hallway on his right. Then he spotted something on the wall. “Guys, come here!” On both the left and right wall in the hallway wooden frames were hung up on the wall, and the boys all shone their lights up. What they found were paintings; two on each side – in each of them a person with their backs turned to the group. 

“What the hell…” Namjoon whispered while squinting his eyes at one. The person inside the painting was clearly wearing Hogwarts robes, but the House colours were not visible on the back. It seemed to be a girl, because there were long locks of blond hair visible, but there was no way of knowing for sure. 

“Wait,” Hoseok suddenly said while observing one of the paintings on the other side, “I think… I think this is Zed!” 

“What?!”

The seven all turned to Hoseok and he nodded. “I’m sure of it, this is Zed! I’ve known him for years, I would recognise even the back of his head anywhere. Zed! ZED!” He called out, but the painting remained unmoved. “What the fuck is this?! Are they _in_ the paintings? Have they _become_ pantings?!”

“Don’t shout, Hoseok,” Namjoon told him, “we don’t know if there’s anything dangerous out there.”

“Let it come. Seriously, let me at it!”

Yoongi put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Hobi, calm down. This is a sign that Zed and the others are probably in here, and we’ll find them.” Hoseok sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m just so done with this bullshit.”

The group scanned the other paintings, and Taehyung eyed the blonde hair again, now convinced it could very well be Dahlia. Unfortunately, he had not studied the back of her head enough to be certain. He glanced at the other two paintings and recognised them for girls; most likely the two other missing students. That would make sense, after all. Everyone stepped a little further into the hallway, and Namjoon glanced back at them.

“I don’t think splitting up would be a wise choice, so let’s stay together.” Jimin chuckled nervously. “Yeah, I like that idea.”

There was a whisper from within the darkness, and Taehyung turned around instantly, not knowing he was the only one who heard it. The light of his wand did not reach far enough to see into the other hallways, but he was sure he had heard a voice coming from further up ahead. Somehow, it had not sounded hostile or dangerous. If anything, it had sounded familiar; friendly, even. Like it wanted Taehyung to come find it. The rest of the group did not notice the Gryffindor disappear around the corner behind them, too absorbed in their frightening fascination for the paintings.

Taehyung ‘s heart skipped a beat as he turned the corner and found a pale, black-haired boy revealed in the light of his wand, smiling at him. It was a gentle smile, not threatening in any way. Taehyung found himself mesmerised by the warm familiarity of him, yet fascinated by something that seemed so _different_. 

So new.

So enchanting. 

He stepped towards him, now being completely out of sight of the rest of the group, and the boy’s smile widened, his eyes squinting. Slowly, he turned around and disappeared into the darkness, resulting in the Gryffindor staring after him, blinking, slowing feeling himself panic. Quickly, he started running after him, catching a glimpse of his robes disappearing behind a wall further up ahead.

“Wait!” he pleaded desperately, trying to catch up, “Jimin, wait for me!”

Taehyung turned the corner and came to a halt in front of an open door, which revealed a room; a bedroom it seemed. Jimin stood in the middle of it facing him; the same amiable smile still curved around his lips. The Gryffindor stepped inside and looked around. The room was comfortably warm and lit up by a single torch on the wall opposite from a queen-size bed; thick red and gold bedding neatly folded on top of it. The air had a strange pinkish glow and sweet smell, which made him feel a little drowsy – much like shops that sold perfume, but much more pleasurable. 

Slowly, Taehyung approached his friend, slight worry pulling at his brow and the corners of his mouth and he observed him. “Jiminie, are you okay? You seem… different.”

“Of course I’m okay, Taetae. Especially now that you’re here.”

Hearing the nickname confused him. “Taetae?” he said in surprise, then he grinned. “You haven’t called me that since we were very young. I thought you disliked it – you said I grew out of it.”

Jimin averted his eyes a little shyly, a soft pink glow colouring his cheeks. “But I know you like it when I call you that.”

“I do.”

There was something so different about Jimin. Something that Taehyung could not put his finger on, but at the same time did not want to. All he wanted was to look at him as they stood here in this strange room. 

_Maybe… Maybe they could—_

“Stay.”

Taehyung took a deep breath, trying to shake off the fuzziness that clouded his mind more with every passing minute. He blinkingly stared at Jimin. 

“What?”

“Taetae, I like it here. We could stay here – you and I. Together.”

It was hard to pull away from the shorter boy’s eyes; as if all the answers were buried in them. If he would look away his world would fall apart, Taehyung knew it. But why would he? He didn’t want to look away. Jimin was the only one he wanted to look at. 

For a moment, he snapped out of his trance and cleared his throat. “Jiminie, we have to get back to the group—“ 

“Please stay here with me. Isn’t that what you want?”

There was a short pause.

“Am I not what you want?”

Jimin stepped forward and now stood right in front of him, his gaze keeping Taehyung trapped. 

_You are._

The Gryffindor answered the question in his head, but was not able to let the worlds roll off his tongue somehow. The sight of Jimin paralysed him – the thought of staying here with him making his chest swell and his heart nearly burst out of his ribcage. This feeling. He had hidden it for so long, pushing it away out of fear to lose his best friend, but in this moment he let it overwhelm him; take over every part of him. And Jimin did not seem to mind.

It happened so fast and everything felt so surreal that Taehyung was not entirely sure it was actually happening at all. Maybe it was a dream, but even if it was he knew he had never felt happier in his entire life than in this moment. 

The sudden feeling of Jimin’s soft lips on his sent a pleasant tingling down his back, shooting right into his stomach, and he completely surrendered to the dizziness, making his world spin hard and fast. It wasn’t the air. No. It was Jimin. Jimin kissing him; his small hand now finding its way to the nape of his neck and pulling in him deeper, the other on his chest as he pressed his body closer to the blonde’s. Never had Taehyung allowed himself to act on his feelings for Jimin – never had he told anyone, and never had he planned to. But his feelings were answered somehow in this strange place outside of time and space. Away from the rest of the world. With his eyes closed took in every part of Jimin; feeling his tongue brush against his own, his skin melting with his own, his smell.

 _His smell._

It felt strange, but Taehyung convinced himself that was only natural since this was his first time _actually_ kissing Jimin; being so close to him. Of course it was strange, but—Taehyung felt his knees go weak. He inhaled deeply. 

_Had Jimin always smelled like this?_

He pulled away with a gasp for air and looked at the Hufflepuff, but all he could see was the blurry outline of his body, a flash of black robes and hair. 

“Jiminie,” he groaned, the smell of burnt wood still lingering in his nostrils as he inhaled one last time before losing all perception of reality.

###### 

“No. Oh no, oh no! Tae! TAE!”

“Jimin, please don’t yell, we have to be caref—“

“BE CAREFUL?!” Jimin bellowed at Jungkook who had run after him back to where the path forked. “TAE IS GONE! WHAT EXACTLY IS IT WE NEED TO BE CAREFUL FOR, HUH?!” The rest of the group stared at the younger two further up ahead, and Yoongi grimaced, quickly pacing towards where they stood, raising his wand at the Hufflepuff.

“TAEHY—“

“Silencio.”

Jimin felt the word sticking in his throat, like something suddenly blocking his pipe, and he gagged silently. With tears in his eyes he tried to yell, but his voice was gone. He stared furiously at Yoongi who now stood next to Jungkook, shaking his head. 

“If you won’t listen to reason, I’ll use force. It’s as simple as that.” He turned to the others. “Seems like the first of our group has gone missing, so on a more positive note that means we’re definitely in the right place. Did anyone see or hear anything?” The rest of the boys shook their head, a mixture of worry and fear growing rapidly inside each and every one of them. “Alright,” Yoongi proceeded, “we look for Taehyung in pairs. We’ll search each of the hallways, but return to the centre in fifteen minutes, got it?” There were a few acknowledging nods, but still no words. Tears were now rolling down Jimin’s cheeks as he mutely cried while leaning against the wall, shaking his head. 

“Namjoon, you go with Jimin to the right, Seokjin, you go with Kook the way we came from, and Hobi and I will explore the one in front of us.”

The Ravenclaw nodded and approached Jimin, circling an arm around him, knowing that was the only thing he could do to comfort the younger right now, even if it wasn’t much. “Come on, we’ll find him.” He guided Jimin into the other direction, hoping with everything he had that he wouldn’t be wrong.

After about five minutes Jimin seemed to have calmed down, and Namjoon waved his wand to negate the spell Yoongi had cast on him. With a sniff the Hufflepuff glanced up at the older, his eyes puffy and nose red under the light of their wands.

“I’m s-sorry.”

“It’s okay, or well… it will be.”

Finding it hard to believe his own words of encouragement, Namjoon pressed on with his wand forward and chin up, not wanting Jimin to catch on about how terrified he actually was. He hoped the younger could not hear the pounding of his heart in the almost deafening silence as they, as quietly as possible, stepped through the darkness.

Then, the light revealed another wooden frame and the two looked up, finding another painting – not of a human this time, but a familiar castle.

“It’s Hogwarts,” Namjoon whispered while letting his eyes wander over the artwork, finding himself strangely mesmerised by it.

Suddenly, Jimin gasped loudly, and Namjoon could not stop himself from doing the same when he turned around and his eyes rested upon another painting. It was a boy, staring down at them and, strangely enough, wearing Gryffindor robes. 

It was Jimin.

“No, no, no,” The Hufflepuff whimpered, his tears making a quick return. “I’m next! They’re going to get me!” He cried out. Namjoon did not have any words for the younger this time as he gaped at the painting of Jimin on the wall, overcome with such a strong sense of fear it rendered him unable to move or speak. Jimin sank down to the floor, not being able to keep himself standing any longer, and sobbed. 

“I’m n-not brave. Not b-brave like y-you! Tae... Taehyung, p-please help. Help m-me!”

###### 

“Do we go in?”

“Got any other suggestions?”

Yoongi and Hoseok had stumbled across a door – a burnt wooden one, similar to the one they had entered the Room of Requirement through, but smaller. The Hufflepuff groaned. “We have to go in, don’t we?” to which the other nodded. “We do. If there’s any chance Taehyung is in there we need to risk it.”

Hesitantly, Hoseok pushed the door open; a little at first so they could peek inside, but when the space inside was revealed, the Hufflepuff slammed the door open with his shoulder, pushing himself in. They found a boy sitting on a couch in the middle of the room; the original golden velvet still poking through here and there in-between the black and burnt fabric. They knew the boy; both of them did, but it wasn’t Taehyung. Hoseok ran towards him, grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him around.

“ZED!”

There was no reply from Zed, nor any other response. Hoseok recognised him – it was definitely him, but he had lost a lot of weight; his cheeks were hollow and there were dark circles under his eyes, like he had not slept in a long time. His eyes – his eyes were not their usual colour, and Hoseok frowned. They were glazy and white, like shiny, reflective marbles. Yoongi scrunched his nose in disgust as he suddenly became aware of a terrible smell around them. He looked around the room and spotted a table on which plates of food lay rotting.

“He’s… he’s still alive!” Hoseok cried out. “What’s the matter with him – is he blind? He… He _is_ still alive, isn’t he? Yoongi?!”

Yoongi averted his eyes from the table and back to Zed. “It seems like he is still alive, yes, but…” he waved his hand in front of the Hufflepuff’s face, “…he’s under some kind of spell. I don’t recognise it.”

“There must be something we can do!”

The Slytherin pointed his wand at Zed, fearing his attempts to bring the Hufflepuff back to his senses would be without result, but trying nonetheless. 

“Finite Incantatum.”

Nothing changed. Hoseok stared at Yoongi desperately, hoping the Slytherin would have invented some kind of spell that would be able to cure Zed somehow. Yoongi swallowed, feeling the pressure of Hoseok’s expectation pull at his stomach, and tried again.

“Rennervate.”

Still no change.

“Wait, so that means he’s not unconscious,” Hoseok said. “I don’t understand.” He looked around the room and noticed the rotting food. “I thought the Room couldn’t produce food.” Yoongi shook his head. “I don’t know what’s happening, but something or someone has been keeping him alive.”

“Alive…” Hoseok repeated softly, “If we don’t manage to get him back to normal, there isn’t much life left in him.”

“We will,” Yoongi said determinedly. “Come on, let’s go back to the others and tell them about this.” He got up and walked to the door, but Hoseok did not follow. The Slytherin glanced back at his friend, who shook his head while biting down on his lip. “I can’t leave him here, Yoongi,” he said. “I’m going to stay behind and try to see if there’s anything I can do. If anything happens to me, you’ll most likely find me in here anyway.”

Yoongi was ready to protest, opening his mouth, but then closing it again. The last thing he wanted to do was leave his best friend behind, but he knew there would be nothing he could do or say to convince Hoseok to leave with him; the downside of having a friend just as stubborn as himself, so he just nodded. “Cast a protective spell on the entrance. I don’t know if it’ll help, but…”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Definitely.”

Leaving the two Hufflepuffs behind in the room, Yoongi ran back through the hallway with nauseating anxiety growing inside of him. If Hoseok would end up like Zed he would never forgive himself for allowing him to stay behind, but he tried to not give it too much thought. What would happen would happen, and it was out of his control right now. As he made his way through the darkness, his thoughts wandered to Jungkook. 

_Was he okay with Seokjin?_  
_Who was he kidding, he would probably be the one protecting the older Slytherin if it came to it. Seokjin was mostly talk._

His worried were soothes when he finally reached the centre of the hallways again, and he spotted both Seokjin and Jungkook already there. Relieved by finding the both of them still safe and sound, he sighed. 

“Hey,” he greeted them, “we found Zed all weird and zoned out in a room; like he was under a spell. Hobi stayed behind with him to try to help him.”

“His friend is still alive?! Wait—and you let him stay behind?!” Seokjin snapped, more out of fear than anything else. Yoongi nodded. “I know him, and I couldn’t have convinced him to come back with me, so I let it go. Zed is important to him and Hobi is important to me, so I wanted to respect his choice.” 

The older Slytherin snorted and shook his head at his housemate in disapproval. “We are so different, you and I. If it had been Namjoon I would have dragged him back with me – maybe even knocked him unconscious if I would have had to. Then again, I’m not saying my way is necessarily the right way.”

From afar, deep within the hallway that Namjoon and Jimin had been assigned to, there was the sound of a desperate whimper. All three heads turned immediately, alarmed by the unknown presence that was coming in closer. Heavy footsteps came from up ahead, which now came accompanied with sobbing and panting. None of them had the courage to step forward to see who it was, but that wasn’t necessary; Jimin appeared into the light of their wands, running towards them, his face wet and swollen from crying and sweating.

“H-Help!” he stammered in-between his sobs, sinking down on his knees in front of the three Slytherin. Jungkook dropped down and instantly wrapped his arms around his friend, keeping him from falling over. Shocked, he glanced up at Seokjin and Yoongi, who both looked terrified at the sight of the young Hufflepuff – the oldest Slytherin now trembling heavily. 

“Jiminie,” Jungkook whispered, “W-What happened?”

Jimin buried his face into Jungkook’s neck, sobbing into his robes. His entire body was weak, and he could barely muster the energy to push his words through his tears after having run back to the others as fast as he had still could. For a minute, he cried in the young Slytherin’s arms, and it was Seokjin who spoke next. Under any other circumstance he would have tried to hide his true feeling – his fear, but not this time. His own voice caught him off guard when it trembled and hitched in his throat.

“Where… W-Where is N-Namjoon?”

There was another loud whimper from the young Hufflepuff, and his shook his head, resting it on Jungkook’s shoulder. The youngest felt as if his fear was dropped on him like a weight; pushing him down, wanting him to sink into the floor and become one with the Room – to disappear forever. That is, after all, what was slowly happening. 

_Wasn’t it?_

It was frightening how one simple word could be so terrifying; so soul-destroying. How that one word could be so difficult for Jimin to say, and so difficult for the others to hear.

“Gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course it had to end on a cliffhanger, what else?  
> I'll do my best to upload Part II very soon!
> 
> Please share your thoughts with me ~


	10. What Was Left Behind (Part II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Faster than I had planned, here is Part II c:

###  **Chapter 10 - What Was Left Behind (Part II)**

****

“I’m so glad you came, Mr. Kim.”

Dancing lights of lit candles reflected in Namjoon’s eyes as he let them take in the room he now stood in. He had been here once before, but it was somehow much more beautiful than he remembered it to be. Bookcases filled so richly that there were small stacks of books and papers on the floor, countless of strange golden and silver contraptions and magical equipment he had never seen before in his life all around him, and a pleasant orange glow making everything especially easy on his eyes, accompanied by the smell of parchment and something he recognised as the scent of his bedding when it had just been washed; a smell so typically ‘Hogwarts’ to him. In the back of the room there was a large wooden desk, a golden chair behind it and a lively aquarium set up next to it, filled with all kinds of brightly coloured exotic fish. 

Namjoon smiled. “We used to have those at home,” he told the man before him, who returned his smile. 

“That’s why I put them here.”

“You did that for me?”

“Of course, Mr. Kim.”

The Ravenclaw took the Headmaster’s office in for the second time, then realised something. He frowned. “Professor,” he slowly said, “am I in trouble?” The Headmaster answered his question with a chuckle and “of course not”, approaching the student and gazing at him. Namjoon felt as if he _was_ in trouble for some reason, but he could not exactly tell why. Surely if the Headmaster said he wasn’t, then he wasn’t, but he could not shake the tiniest sense of uneasiness that was buried deep inside of him; like he was forgetting something.

“I summoned you here, because I would like you to stay.”

“Stay, Professor?”

“Yes,” the Headmaster replied. “I need someone to be my successor – someone who cares deeply about Hogwarts. Someone who can set an example to the students. Someone like you.”

“Like me, Professor? But I’m just a student myself.”

Namjoon was surprised by the offer – surely he was not competent enough for this job, not _yet_ at least. He would need experience as a Professor, know the castle inside out (perhaps he could ask Seokjin for advice on that), know how to handle internal conflict, politics; there was just too much to think of. These were all things he wanted to say, but the Headmaster seemed to already have read his mind.

“Naturally, we will have you start as an Apprentice-Teacher – any subject you’d like. Eventually, the position will be yours. We’ve thought everything through, Mr. Kim. We want you here at Hogwarts. At the truth is you don’t really want to leave, do you?”

“I—“ Namjoon whispered, realising the truth of what the man was saying. “No, I don’t want to leave. I want to stay.”

The Headmaster took one more step forward, extending his arm and placing his hand on Namjoon’s shoulder. At the touch, the Ravenclaw felt his mind cloud even more than it already was – the world around him now spinning so violently he would surely fall soon. He blinked out of confusion when his eyesight slowly started blurring, and the office around him became a collection of mere shapes and colours.

“Work hard, Mr. Kim.”

Namjoon nodded mindlessly.

“Stay.”

###### 

And now there were four. Seokjin, Yoongi, Jimin, and Jungkook were running through the hallway that Namjoon had disappeared in; the Hufflepuff sobbing softly as he was dragged along by Jungkook, who was holding his hand to ensure he wouldn’t fall behind. Yoongi had strategically positioned himself at the back of the line, not wanting the two youngest to be the next to fall victim, which left Seokjin to walk up front. This terrified him. The oldest Slytherin was glad the others were too concentrated on Jimin to notice the trembling of his hand as he held his wand up in the air in front of him. 

“There!” Jungkook told the others as he spotted a wooden frame on the wall further up ahead, and Jimin whimpered. “K-Kook I don’t w-want to look a-at it!”

The four came to a halt in front of the painting, the three Slytherin letting the lights of their wand shine up so they could see. Jimin was the only one who did not look at it, instead keeping his eyes shut while he shakily squeezed Jungkook’s hand.

“Fuck,” Yoongi whispered, “it really is you. That’s creepy as hell.”

As Jimin had told them before, they were now indeed faced by a lifelike painting of the young Hufflepuff. He was staring down at them from within the frame, motionless; unlike other magical paintings, which moved. Jungkook felt his stomach turn as he stared into the painting’s eyes, thinking to himself that, as creepy as the whole situation already was, there was something about the other Jimin’s expression that took his uneasiness to a whole different level. The _real_ Jimin usually smiled, and even if he did not do so with his lips, there was always something pleasant sparkling in his eyes; something that made Jungkook feel safe. But _this_ Jimin wasn’t like that. He was different – cold, somehow; almost _arrogant_. His posture was also different and—

“Why are you wearing Gryffindor robes?”

Jimin opened his eyes and looked down at his robes in confusion, then at Jungkook. “I’m n-not wea—“

“No the painting of you, Jiminie! He’s wearing Gryffindor robes.”

The Hufflepuff, feeling like he had no choice, gingerly glanced up and, indeed, noticed the red and gold colours and lion badge. “Oooohh,” he groaned unhappily, feeling the sickening pit of fear in his stomach grow and tighten, “I don’t know what that means!”

“Jimin.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to Yoongi who was now staring at the other wall. “What did you say the other painting was?”

“H-Hog… Hogwarts,” the Hufflepuff stammered, feeling like he was losing his sanity little by little with every passing second. To the answer, Yoongi shook his head and took a shuddering breath.

“It’s not Hogwarts anymore.”

All eyes turned to the painting on the other wall, which, like Jimin had claimed to have seen before, should have been their school. What they found, however, was a student – back turned to them, just like the first four paintings they had encountered. Seokjin covered his mouth with both of his hands, dropping his wand on the floor, and Jungkook gasped. There was no doubt about it; no need to confirm.

It was Namjoon.

As an ice-cold shiver was sent down his spine, Jungkook felt his teeth clatter. From beside him, Jimin started sobbing again and pressed himself up against the youngest, clinging to his arm with his hand, still keeping the other tightly wrapped around Jungkooks’. Seokjin stepped backwards, his head slamming into the wall behind him, rendering him dizzy. In an attempt to keep himself standing on his feet, he leaned against the stone, trying to control his breathing. It was no use. The more he tried to calm himself down the more he panicked, and he started hyperventilating, feeling as if his stomach could make a full 360 degree turn at any moment now and throw out his dinner. 

Yoongi turned to Jungkook and placed a hand on the nape of his neck upon seeing how mortified he was. He softly squeezed the younger, not knowing any other gesture of comfort in the moment. Then he noticed Seokjin against the wall.

“Fuck, Seokjin!” he hissed. “Get yourself together; You’re the oldest and smartest here, I need you sharp!”

The oldest Slytherin knew Yoongi was right. If he wouldn’t be able to get himself together it would significantly decrease their chances of survival. Repressing a gag, he bent down and picked his wand up from the floor, immediately letting it slip again from between his shaking fingers, the wood clattering on the stone. There was a loud gasp from the youngest two as Yoongi suddenly grabbed Seokjin’s shoulders and pinned him up against the wall, his eyes flaming. 

“JIN! GET YOURSELF TOGETHER FOR FUCKS SAKE!”

“P-Please… Please, p-please!”

Yoongi’s anger melted away at the older Slytherin’s plea, only then realising this was the first time Seokjin had shown any weakness in front of him – in front of _anyone_ , most likely. He moved his hands away from the other’s shoulders to either side of his face, looking him in the eyes, in which he saw a desperate sadness and fear, completely out of character, and he felt guilty.

“Listen,” he whispered, “we’ll find Namjoon, okay? Jin, we’ll find all of them. Zed was still alive after all this time, so they’ll be fine, you hear me? We just have to find the source of it all and take it out.”

Yoongi’s words of encouragement seemed to do a lot more than his anger had, because Seokjin nodded, sniffed, and then took a deep breath that seemed to snap him back out of his panic. 

“You’re right,” he said. “Fuck, I’m sorry.” He glanced over to Jungkook and Jimin. “I’m really sorry,” to which the two youngest spared painful smiles. Yoongi let go of Seokjin and turned to the others. “We can do this. Be brave.”

“Be brave,” Jimin repeated in a whisper. The words somehow sparked something in him, and when he glanced up at the painting of himself once more, he felt his fear getting replaced by fiery anger – fuelling him with a newfound and strangely passionate energy. 

“Let’s go.”

###### 

It was unnerving yet somewhat comforting at the same time when for about twenty minutes nothing had happened. There were no strange encounters, paintings, and more importantly, the four of them were still together. However, their peace came to an end when Seokjin stopped in his tracks after turning a corner and Jimin, who had been walking behind him, bumped into him.

“Ow, Seokjin!”

“Look.”

A door was revealed into their light a little further up ahead, and the four stood still for a moment, staring at it. 

“No time to waste,” Yoongi said, “let’s go in.”

The room they stepped into was warm, a strange but pleasant glow fogging up the air. Upon inhaling, however, the same smell as Yoongi and Hoseok had encountered in Zed’s room, they found in here as well. 

“Ew, oh!” Jungkook gagged, “What _is_ that?!”

“Rotten food,” Yoongi said, then suddenly spotting two girls on the floor as he glanced around the room. “Shit!” All four of them quickly ran over to the two, crouching down next to them. Scattered over the floor around them there were countless of loose pages, and Jimin picked one of them up while the others stared at the two girls, whose eyes were as glazy and white as Zed’s had been, a creepy smile curved around their lips as they stared at nothing in particular, seemingly unfazed by the arrival of the boys. 

“Guys,” Jimin whispered, holding up the page so the others could see, “look.”

On the page was writing; one word. The others stared at it and looked around at the other pages, where they found the same word on almost every inch of all the paper in different handwriting.

_**Stay** _

“As if shit wasn’t already creepy enough,” Yoongi groaned. “Seems like something wants us to stay, just like the other missing students.”

“Wait,” Jungkook frowned, “do you think it’s… the _Room_ that’s doing all of this?”

“The Room of Requirement… itself, you mean?” Seokjin asked, and the youngest nodded. The oldest glanced around. “I suppose that would be possible. But why? It doesn’t make sense.”

“This place holds some extremely powerful magic,” Yoongi said, “and like we said, we don’t know what effect the Fiendfyre might have had on it. It wasn’t supposed to recover from something like that, but it did. Maybe it has gone all whack.”

“So it kidnaps people and keeps them here,” Jimin concluded, “but what’s with the paintings. Why was there a painting of _me_ here?”

“I’ve been thinking about that. You said there was a painting of Hogwarts where we found that image of Namjoon, and the first four we found were most likely of the other missing students.” Seokjin’s eyes flickered from left to right as he thought about it. “What if there’s a clue hidden in those paintings? And those are replaced by the image of the person it relates to _after_ the Room succeeds in capturing them?”

Jimin nodded. “Well that makes sense, considering I encountered the painting of myself, but… Hogwarts could relate to anyone, couldn’t it?”

The four fell silent for a moment, all staring at the Slytherin and Ravenclaw girls who did not seem to respond to their presence in the slightest. This mystery had turned into more than any of them had anticipated. Of course they had all pondered on the case of the missing students, losing sleep over it, the many questions even affecting their grades and daily life – Jimin had to admit he had even suspected it to be very weird and elaborate prank; that all the missing students would eventually come out of hiding with some strange, hilarious explanation.

But this.

This went beyond anything they had imagined.

Beyond what any of them had learned about in school.

There was a sudden _POP_ and all of them turned around in shock, even more shocked by what they found in the room with them, carrying a full plate of food.

“It’s…”

“…a House Elf?!”

The small creature had appeared on the other side, and it put the plate it was carrying down on the table. It did not acknowledge the humans in the room in any way or form, and Seokjin scrambled to his legs, quickly approaching the Elf and staring at its face.

“Holy shit,” he said while observing the creature, “its eyes! They’re the same strange colour as the girls’.” The others got up, wanting to take a look as well, but with another _POP_ the House Elf disappeared into thin air, leaving the boys behind to gape at each other.

“Well that explains the food,” Jungkook said, to which Yoongi shook his head in confusion. “What does a House Elf have to do with any of this? It didn’t acknowledge us at all, like it was in a trance or something.”

All of them glanced back at the girls, who still sat unmoved in the midst of the paper, blankly staring at the wall.

“That makes sense, actually,” Yoongi added. “If the Room cast the same spell on the House Elf as on everyone else, maybe it could control it; command it to come in and out.”

“I don’t understand,” Jungkook chuckled darkly, “what does the Room want? Doesn’t it want everyone dead?”

There was another moment of silence. Finally, Seokjin answered.

“For some weird reason I don’t think so.”

A whisper from outside caught Jimin’s attention, not knowing – just as Taehyung had not known – he had been the only one to hear it. Slowly, he stepped towards the exit, hearing Jungkook call his name from behind, but ignoring him. There was something about that voice he recognised; something so familiar. With one foot he stepped outside the room, glancing into the hallway and immediately finding the source.

It was _him_.

Jimin found his own eyes locked with… his own eyes, but different – not like looking at himself in a mirror at all. Then he noticed the robes.

_Gryffindor._

The anger he had felt when staring at the painting of himself boiled up inside of him again – fast and raging. 

“YOU!” He yelled, now pointing his wand at his Gryffindor-self, who merely smirked before turning on his heel and disappearing into the darkness. “DON’T YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME!” Jimin roared as he ran into the hallway to follow himself.

Yoongi, Jungkook, and Seokjin hurried to the door of the and saw the light of Jimin’s wand fade behind a corner up ahead. Jungkook stepped forward, wanting to run after him, but Yoongi pushed him back.

“STAY HERE!” 

The oldest and youngest Slytherin were left behind in the doorway as they watched the darkness swallow up their other Housemate, the sound of his hurried footsteps completely faded within a matter of seconds.

###### 

“We finally meet.”

Heavily panting, Jimin stared at himself – his _other_ , Gryffindor self. The room they were in had a strange red glow and sweet scent that, strangely, reminded him of home. He hadn’t paid any attention to his new surroundings yet, and upon finally taking a moment to look around, he recognised it to be a Gryffindor dormitory; a large bed with red and gold sheets and matching drapes, a large trunk at the foot with the Lion crest on it, and a wooden bedside table next to it. On the walls he noticed several Quidditch posters, which, upon closer observation, he discovered to be the same ones as he had hung up in his Hufflepuff dormitory.

“Wha— Who are you?” Jimin asked his other self, the answer he was given as confusing as it was frustrating and unsatisfying.

“I am you.”

There was a sarcastic chuckle.

“Yeah, I figured as much, thanks a lot.”

“I am you,” the Gryffindor-Jimin repeated, “I am your deepest longing. I know what it is you want and I can give it to you if you stay.”

Jimin shook his head while slowly lowing his wand. “I don’t understa—“

“You long to be brave, don’t you? You’ve always envied Tae, from the moment you two were sorted. You were never as brave and strong as him; only true Gryffindors have those traits.”

“I could be brave. I can be b—“

“Yes you can, Jimin. _We_ can be. We could stay here together and never have to depend on others ever again. Not Taehyung, not anyone.”

“I—“

Jimin gasped as his other self stepped forward and opened his arms, as if coming in for a hug. He closed his eyes and felt a strange sensation tingle through his limbs. When he opened them again he was alone and looked down, finding his Hufflepuff colours and badge replaced with Gryffindors’. As he let his hand slide over the red fabric he smiled, suddenly feeling his head spin and eyesight blur, the smell of burnt wood now all around him.

“I suppose I could stay… for a while…”

###### 

“They couldn’t have gone far, could they? It’s just one long hallway.”

Seokjin and Jungkook, being the only ones left from their group to still be together, ran through the darkness; the collective light that their wands emitted now much weaker than when it had been all of them – or even just the four of them. They had waited for Yoongi to return with Jimin, but after a while both of them had had enough of standing around without doing anything (especially after getting a good scare when the two girls inside the room had suddenly _gotten up to eat_ , still as captured in their weird trances as before). The older Slytherin was trying hard to keep himself from panicking again, admiring the younger’s courage and willpower as he determinedly stepped through the pitch-black unknown.

“Shit,” Jungkook cursed when they hit another fork in the road; one hallway leading left and the other one leading right. “This won’t do. If we split up too it’ll be bad news.” Seokjin sighed. “I don’t really see another choice, I’m afraid.” 

The younger inhaled and exhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment to concentrate. _Wasn’t there anything they could do so they wouldn’t have to split up? Surely there was something… something..._

“OH!” Jungkook exclaimed, suddenly realising there _was_ something they could do. It wasn’t a spell he had learned in school yet, but this is exactly how Taehyung and Jimin had found him the day they met. As he raised his wand and swished it, he hoped with everything he had that it would work.

“Homemum Revelio!”

A white orb of energy appeared before him and he laughed with joy. The light was bright and he squinted his eyes a little painfully. Slowly, it moved to his left side and levitated into the hallway.

“YES!” Jungkook cheered. “I can’t believe it worked! At least we have shot at finding someone now. Let’s go, Seokji—“

The Slytherin turned around and found the hallway behind him empty.

Seokjin was gone.

In panic he turned to all sides, his heart pounding hard in his ribcage and his throat going dry. He whimpered. “Oh, no, no! Seokjin… SEOKJIN!”

From a little further up ahead the orb started floating faster, disappearing out of sight around a corner as Jungkook still stood at the split, breathing fast and lips trembling as he shouted for Seokjin.

But there was no answer.

He was alone.

“Fuck… okay, okay… sh—motherffff…” he whined, fighting back the tears that were trying to push their way through. This wasn’t the time to panic. Well _it definitely was_ , but he couldn’t afford to do so. He remembered Yoongi’s words to Seokjin; Only if he remained sharp he would still have a shot at finding the others. 

With a sniff he started running after the orb, thankfully finding it up ahead as he turned the corner, floating faster and faster. Jungkook wasn’t able to catch up with it anymore, but did not lose sight of it. It was taking him much deeper into the Room as he expected Jimin and Yoongi to have gone, but that didn’t matter. If only he could find _someone_ and save them they would find their way out again.

_Or not._

If not, Jungkook would stay here with them. He wouldn’t leave his friends behind – the first friends he had ever had. Hogwarts would most likely be closed and they would all stay behind as prisoners in this dark and twisted place.

That’s what they had gotten themselves into.

_Perhaps it was their fate._

The Slytherin watched the orb glide to the right, and when he turned the corner he came to a halt, faced with a door. The ball of energy slipped inside through an opening; this meant there would be someone inside. There was a pleasant glow that urged him to enter, and Jungkook thought he smelled something familiar. Who it was and what state they would be in was something he could not predict, but he knew that he would only get one chance. One shot to make things right.

Very quietly he pushed the door further open, his wand out, and found two people standing before him. He recognised the first person in the room for Yoongi. Jungkook was overcome with major relief, which quickly faded when the other person, whose back was turned to him, spoke. A voice he hadn’t heard before, which surely meant trouble. It was deep and smooth; that of a man older than himself. He was wearing black robes – almost like a suit, and shiny black dress shoes. 

“Do you like it?”

“I do,” Yoongi replied to the man while glancing around the room. Jungkook frowned as he stood in the doorway and observed the room; it wasn’t like any place he had seen before. It seemed to be an office, filled with books, notebooks, and a velvet dark green couch against the wall. There were two desks in the middle, each matched with a chair. Jungkook squinted his eyes at a small sign on top of one of the desks.

_Mr. Min – Head Spell Scientist, Department of Magical Innovation_

_What was this place? Did Yoongi know this man? Was Yoongi a part of this whole mystery?_

“I’m glad,” the man spoke slyly, taking one slow step forward to the Slytherin. Jungkook suddenly noticed a flicker in Yoongi’s eyes; a quick one from deep, dark brown to white, then back to normal. The older Slytherin smiled and eyed the man from top to bottom.

“You look so different. You’re taller than I am now.”

The man laughed pleasantly, and Jungkook thought he recognised the way in which he did, which confused him even more. Yet all he could do was stand in the doorway and watch the scene unfold.

“I suppose I am,” he chuckled. “Do you mind that, Yoongi?”

“N-No, not at all.”

“That’s good.”

There was a moment of silence where Yoongi just smiled, staring at the stranger before him. It was an affectionate smile; almost loving. A look Jungkook had never seen on his face before. Better yet, he had not even suspected Yoongi was capable of looking at someone like that, and, however misplaced it was in the moment, he felt slight jealousy pull at his insides.

“We can work together from now on. We’d make a great team don’t you think?”

“I do think so, yeah. I’ve always thought that, but you’re just—“

“Too young?”

Yoongi nodded. “Most of the work I do isn’t really safe.”

“But I’m not young anymore.”

“You’re not.”

The entire conversation made no sense to Jungkook. He wanted to hear more – find out _who_ this man was and what Yoongi’s relationship with him was. Why had he not heard of him before? Why did he want to work together with Yoongi? What was going on, and who – _who_ in the world had the ability to make him smile like that?

“You should stay, Yoongi. Please stay.”

The Slytherin’s eyes flickered once more and his smile widened.

“Okay, Kook.”

Jungkook felt his heart drop in his stomach, a strange throbbing in his ears stabbing at his head as the world around him started spinning.

…

_Kook?_

He stared at the back of the man’s head as he approached Yoongi and laid a hand on his shoulder, and realised it was the same colour as his. His friend’s eyes started flickering again – more frequently and faster this time, and he suddenly realised what was happening. Like the others, Yoongi was now losing perception of reality. He, too, would soon be lost in a strange trance, trapped in a dream world from which he could not awaken.

_One chance._

“HEY!”

There was nothing that could have prepared him for the feeling that overcame him when the man turned around, and Jungkook was faced with himself, but older; matured (in his twenties, perhaps), taller, broader, his jawline sharp and eyes much less innocent as he stared at the younger Jungkook. Within a matter of seconds, he recovered from his initial shock and an eerie smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, one eyebrow raised. 

“Ah, Jungkook.”

The younger glanced to Yoongi, who stood behind the other Jungkook, motionless and with eyes flickering incredibly fast.

“Who are you? What have you done to Yoongi and the others?!”

The older did not answer the question, instead asking one in return.

“What is it you desire?”

He slowly approached the youngest, leaving Yoongi behind in a semi-trance. 

“Stay away!” Jungkook yelled, “I don’t want anything from you!”

“For centuries, the people at Hogwarts came to me with their deepest needs and wishes. I could give it to them – anything they wanted. I have the power.”

Taking in what his other self was saying, Jungkook suddenly realised something; putting all the pieces together. Naturally, they could have only guessed before; theorised. But now he stood face to face with the culprit. The one behind the mystery. The core of it all. 

“You’re…” he slowly said. “You’re the Room of Requirement, aren’t you?”

His question was answered with a smile this time, and his other self took another step towards him, to which he raised his wand threateningly. The other, however, seemed completely unfazed by it.

“I am but a shadow of what I once was. No one comes to me anymore. Damaged. Forgotten.”

“Wait… Is that why you kept those students here? Because you were… lonely?”

In the moment, Jungkook suddenly felt something that transcended his fear, anger, and frustration. It was pity. After the Fiendfyre the Room had never been used again; but never would he have ever thought it was more than just _magic_. More than just a room. It had sentience – feeling. And it was standing here right in front of him.

The other Jungkook exhaled sharply. “I can give them what they want.”

Jungkook shook his head, pushing away the pity he felt. “No, you hypnotise them, making them think they are getting what they want. It’s wrong!”

“To them it makes no difference.”

“But to us it does! The ones left behind.”

“What about me? I was left behind too.”

“I…”

“Jungkook,” the older smiled. “All your friends have decided to stay. You could stay too.”

“Wha—NO!”

The younger stepped back out of the room, he other Jungkook coming in closer and closer. There was a strange light and Jungkook blinked, and found someone else standing before him when he opened his eyes again.

Yoongi.

“All we want is for you to stay, Kook.”

“N-No!” 

Jungkook desperately cast a glance at the real Yoongi, who still stood on the other side of the room, his eyes almost completely white now. The other Yoongi reached out his arm and grabbed Jungkook’s hand, pulling him back inside the room. At the touch, the young Slytherin’s mind was suddenly clouded, and the room around him changed, the outlines of everything inside of it starting to blur.

Jungkook groaned as he realised he would soon slip away too, just like everyone else. There was nothing he was able to do after all. Nothing he could mean for his friends – his only friends. People who had depended on him, for the first time in his life.

_Nothing. ___

__The other Yoongi’s touch was cold and his laugh was even colder. Jungkook submitted to it; let the dizziness overwhelm him and take him away. Maybe he was too young after all. Too foolish. Too incompetent to save his friends._ _

__“Yoongi…” he moaned with his last bit of energy._ _

__Somehow – for some strange reason, the sound of his own name made Yoongi’s eyes flicker back to normal again for a moment, a part of him returning to reality. The sight of Jungkook being held by some stranger rendered him feeling more scared than anything else._ _

__“KOOK!” He yelled, to which the other Yoongi turned around and snapped at him._ _

__“QUIET!”_ _

__The real Yoongi’s eyes immediately turned white again, his mind clouded and taken over once more. Held captive._ _

__“What?”_ _

___It was a strange thing, the unconscious mind._ _ _

__For a short moment the blurs turned to shapes again, and Jungkook raised his wand up at the other Yoongi’s face._ _

**_Mind control._ **

__Never had Jungkook cast the spell before, but he had whispered it to himself in bed; thinking about what effect it could possible have. Whether it could really kill someone. Whether it would work._ _

__He stared at the Yoongi who was holding him._ _

_He looked so much like him._

_Was he real?_

… 

_Yoongi?_

__Without thinking he spoke the words, calm and emotionless._ _

__“Conteram Animi Carcerem.”_ _

__There was a flash of dark red light that shot out of his wand and Jungkook was released instantly. He did not have the strength left in his body to prevent himself from falling, and his head slammed on the hard stone floor._ _

_'I failed.'_

__Everything went dark._ _

_'I killed Yoongi.'_

###### 

__There was a pleasant white light, voices around him laughing happily. Jungkook opened his eyes and found himself staring at a somewhat familiar ceiling – a place he had been before? As he tried to sit up he felt a sharp pain at his temple, and he groaned._ _

__“Oh shit, Kookie’s awake!”_ _

__He blinked a few times to stabilise his vision, then glanced to his right where Taehyung and Yoongi were sat next to the bed he was lying in. Jungkook gaped at the both of them, then felt himself smile._ _

__“Guys!” he said with a tremor in his voice while trying to move again, but the throbbing pain in his head was too overwhelming._ _

__“Stay put, Kook. Madam Nera said it’s best for you not to move yet.”_ _

__Hoseok appeared into sight from behind the closed curtain behind Yoongi and Taehyung._ _

__“Hobi!” Jungkook exclaimed, extremely happy to see the Hufflepuff. Then he swallowed anxiously, his eyes meeting Yoongi’s. “This isn’t—“_ _

__“A fucked up trance-hallucation world? Thankfully not,” Taehyung answered. “Besides, why would it be your dream to lie in the infirmary?”_ _

__Jungkook laughed and groaned at another jab of pain. “You’re right. That makes me feel a lot better. Wait—where are the others?!”_ _

__“Right here.”_ _

__A voice from his left made him flinch and he turned his head, finding Namjoon, Seokjin, and Jimin all smiling down at him. “We’re all fine,” Namjoon told him, “and the other four missing students have woken up too, but they’ll most likely have to physically recover for a good while. They were down there without any sunlight or movement, so it has definitely taken a toll on them.”_ _

__The youngest sighed with great relief and felt the tears come. “I—I’m so glad! It was insane, there were two Yoongis, and—”_ _

“Wait, hold on, hold on,” Taehyung interrupted him, “I missed _a lot_ in there, y’know, being the one to go down first and all. A shameful defeat, I dare say,” he sadly admitted. “Please explain the whole thing to me.” 

__Jungkook nodded, starting the story from the moment Taehyung had disappeared up to when he cast Yoongi’s spell – excluding his encounter with his older self. The rest of the group seemed amazed by every part of it, shaking their heads when the youngest finished his story._ _

__“Wait,” Jimin said, “so the Room of Requirement took a different form for each of us; showing us what we wanted most, right?”_ _

__“I think so,” Jungkook nodded. “What did you guys see?”_ _

__Namjoon was the first to answer. “I saw the Headmaster. He offered me a job at Hogwarts.”_ _

“ _Hogwarts!_ ” Jimin repeated with wide eyes, “That’s what we saw in the painting.” Namjoon nodded. “I definitely think that’s why we saw that,” to which the youngest Hufflepuff realised something. “I saw myself!” he said. “But in Gryffindor robes. That’s what the Room showed me too. I…” he paused, hesitating to finish his sentence. 

__“Apparently I’ve just always longed to be a Gryffindor. To be brave.”_ _

__Taehyung chuckled. “Jimin, you don’t have to be a Gryffindor to be brave. It isn’t like your House determines what you can or can't be.”_ _

“But you _are_ always brave, Tae!”

__The Gryffindor smiled, and Jungkook thought he spotted a strange glimpse in his eyes – was it… sadness?_ _

__“No, I’m definitely not.”_ _

__“So what did you see, Tae?” Jungkook asked him, to which the other stared at him for a moment, then smiled._ _

__“Ha!” He replied. “Quidditch. Out of all things, _Quidditch_ is the thing I long for most. Guess I’m just a simple guy, huh?”_ _

__Jimin snorted, then sighed at his friend’s answer. “So typical. Leave it to Taehyung to discover his deepest, darkest longing only for it to be Quidditch.”_ _

__There were a few chuckles, Jungkook definitely noticing something strange in Taehyung’s eyes this time around, but not mentioning it. Instead, he glanced over at Hoseok, who shrugged._ _

__“I wasn’t under any mind control, thankfully. I was with Zed when you broke everyone free from the spell. Moments later, we were thrown outside.”_ _

__“Thrown outside?”_ _

__Seokjin nodded. “It appears that when you cast Yoongi’s spell the Room disappeared. When the mind control was broken there was a flash of light, and the next thing we knew we were all lying out in the hallway of the seventh floor, ironically _you_ being the only unconscious one, because you knocked yourself out.”_ _

__“Wait, so the Room is gone?”_ _

__“The door was gone and the Professors checked; it does seem to have disappeared.”_ _

__Everyone fell quiet for a moment, exchanging glanced with each other. Then, Jimin spoke. “Wait so you saw another Yoongi, so what did you see, Yoongi?”_ _

__“Well—“ Jungkook glanced over at Yoongi who raised his eyebrow at the younger with a smirk on his face, crossing his arms. “You know very damn well what I saw, Kook. Let’s keep that between the two of us.”_ _

__Seokjin laughed. “Such a buzzkill, as always.”_ _

__“What did you see, then?” Yoongi countered harshly. Seokjin seemed to have completely regained himself, not a trace of the scared, desperate Slytherin left they had met in the Room of Requirement. He waved his hand in the air, theatrically, as he always did, his usual sly smile around his lips._ _

__“What do you show to a guy who already has everything he wants?” He laughed. “A pair of socks.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to read the epilogue!
> 
> Sidenote: If you got the socks-reference, then you may be right to expect a deeper meaning behind that.


	11. Epilogue - End of the Year

###  **Epilogue – End of the Year**

It was a warm spring day, summer nearing fast. The seven were sitting outside on the grass next to the lake, enjoying the sun and light breeze. They had all welcomed the warmth when it had finally arrived – all sick of the grim, dark days of winter. Despite their adventure, they had not been excused from taking their exams (much to Taehyung’s dismay), and normal life had picked up fairly fast after their escape from the Room of Requirement.

All the work was done. The year was over.

Namjoon and Seokjin were sitting in their graduation robes, the hats they had worn for the ceremony on the grass next to them. Taehyung and Hoseok were caught up in a game of mini-Quidditch (which basically meant they tried to hit each other in the face with pebbles), and Jimin was watching Yoongi and Jungkook practice new spells. 

“You know,” Seokjin said. “I can’t believe that all we got for graduation was a stupid hat. I mean… all _you_ got.” He smiled at Namjoon, who rolled his eyes. “ _I_ obtained the ultimate victory to our competition. Ahh,” he sighed, “what a marvellous day it is. Years of hard work—”

“And cheating.”

“—paid off. Oh, Joonie, Joonie, it has truly been a wild ride. And who would’ve thought the both of us would still make _friends_?”

Hoseok snorted while landing a pebble on Taehyung’s forehead. “I believe last week you still called us your minions of darkness.” 

“One does not necessarily exclude the other, _friend_.”

“I do admit my defeat, Jin. You were the one who found out about the Room of Requirement – although it was Jungkook who managed to save us all with Yoongi’s spell. So you’re definitely not the brightest Slytherin here.”

Seokjin clicked his tongue. “Hmm, agree to disagree? I have to say that winning feels a tad bittersweet. Considering what we all went through and the risk, what we all saw and discovered about ourselves.”

Yoongi frowned and glanced up from his notebook to the older Slytherin. “The Room sure changed you in a weird way. The old Jin wasn’t nearly as sentimental.”

“That’s just part of growing up – I suppose you’ll learn in time,” Seokjin joked, to which Taehyung laughed while fending off another one of Hoseok’s attacks. “If everyone could just be like me the world would be a much better place, so much easier to deal with.”

“Yeah, because then all people would long for would be to play sports and joke around.”

Taehyung smiled at his best friend in return, affectionately. 

“Exactamundo, Jiminie.”

Around them the field was slowly filling up with more students, who still wanted to enjoy the last rays of sunlight on the Hogwarts grounds before returning home for the summer. The Hogwarts Express would take them back tomorrow morning. When they would return next year it would be counting two less, which made this final moment the seven shared together extra special. 

Jungkook stretched and turned his head to Namjoon and Seokjin. “What are you guys going to do anyway, now that you’re leaving Hogwarts?”

“Oh, I don’t know—“

“I’m not leaving.”

“What?!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at Namjoon, who smirked. “Yep. I’ll be returning as Apprentice-Teacher next year; I set everything up with the Headmaster. Zalhammer’s planning to retire the year after, so I’ll be trained to take over his job.”

“Are you _serious_?!” Seokjin said while gaping at the Ravenclaw, obviously shocked at the news. Namjoon snorted at the sight of him. “After we left the Room I realised that whatever it showed us may have been bullshit, but it came from something real. It was right. I _don’t_ want to leave Hogwarts.”

“Well shit,” Seokjin cursed, getting up and leaving everyone confused as he paced back to the castle. Everyone stared after him and Hoseok sighed. “He’s probably angry.”

###### 

“All aboard!”

“Where the fuck is Seokjin?”

“I don’t know, come on!”

Jimin pulled Namjoon inside of the Hogwarts Express by his robes, the engine of the train steaming and huffing, ready to take off any moment now. The Ravenclaw groaned as he was dragged to a back lobby compartment by the Hufflepuff, grumpily taking a seat next to him in one of the booths. In the booth opposite from them, Taehyung, Hoseok, Yoongi, and Jungkook were emerged in a game of Exploding Snap (you could hear Hoseok screaming from outside). 

The Ravenclaw nervously glanced around as the train took off, sighing with relief with as Seokjin entered through the door.

“Seriously, Jin?” Namjoon told him as the Slytherin sat down opposite Jimin and himself, grinning.

“It wasn’t easy, but it has been arranged!” He cheered happily while slamming his hands town on the table, both Namjoon and Jimin frowning deeply. “ _What_ exactly may that be?”

“It looks like our little competition is far from over, Joonie.”

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“You are looking at next year’s Potions Apprentice-Teacher!”

“What the _fuck_ , Jin?! You’re staying at Hogwa—you don’t even _want_ to stay here!” 

Namjoon gaped at the Slytherin, Jimin next to him bursting out in laughter. “Ohohoohoo!” The Hufflepuff roared. “That’s h-hilarious. You hate Potions!”

“I’ll have you know I got an Outstanding on my N.E.W.T exam—“

“Because you fucking took off with all my notes, as usual!”

“No need to panic, Joonie. It’ll all be fine! Besides, how hard can teaching really be?”

The Ravenclaw could not believe what he was hearing and buried his face in the palm of his hand with a deep groan.

“Oh god. You’re staying because I’m staying, aren’t you? You idiot.”

Seokjin snorted and rolled his eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself. Like you, I realised I don’t want to leave. Not yet, anyway. Besides,” He stared out the window, the castle now far behind them and barely visible anymore behind the trees, and he smiled sadly. 

“Hogwarts is my home. I’m not sure if I’ll ever really be able to let it go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /sobs
> 
> Thank you so much for sticking around. I've had a lot of fun writing this fic. I honestly love BTS and Harry Potter so much, so a combination of both is naturally the best thing in the world to me, lmao.
> 
> As you may have noticed there are still some questions that you may have left unanswered, and that is because I plan to write another BTSxHP AU in the future with all the guys as they are in this fic. I don't know when yet, but when I start uploading I will make this story the first part of a collection - so if you subscribe I think you'll get a notification.
> 
> Anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for reading and commenting; it means an awful lot to me! You are all sweethearts and I want to squish your faces. 
> 
> Much love,
> 
> SilverAndGreen  
> A very happy Slytherin ~


	12. - Part II Now Available -

\- Just an update to let you know I have started uploading Part II of Spells of Seven. If you want to follow the rest of the story please subscribe to the series to keep notified <3 -

Series Page: http://archiveofourown.org/series/649439


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